Alpha She-Wolf
by LouisaHale
Summary: Sequel to "Teen She-Wolf" - "...She had only been a wolf eight months but she was good at it, she was meant to be a she-wolf, she knew that in her bones..." Rated M for mature themes, sexual situations (no smut), and violence.
1. One

**AN: This sequel begins about 5-6 months after TEEN SHE-WOLF ends. I recommend reading Teen She-Wolf before this (its only 15 chaps), but you don't really NEED to. And you can read this, and if you like it go back and read the first story for some relevant info.**

**This takes place in and AU, where Erica is younger than the rest, and season 1-3A of Teen Wolf happened when Scott and Co are in College. I'll Have a complete Cast List/ What they are at the end of Chapter two (once my OC is Introduced).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OC). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine.**

* * *

**Alpha She-Wolf**

**Chapter One**

* * *

They arrived on campus bright and early. Erica in her truck, loaded down with the things she purchased for her dorm room, and the rest of her unpacking party in Stiles' jeep. Erica wanted to get to campus as soon as possible. She wanted to get away from _Wolf's Run _as fast as she could before anyone tried to talk her out of leaving. Half of her hoped that Derek would be at the door, pleading for her to stay, but he wasn't. She woke alone in their bed like she had every morning for the last two and a half weeks. Maybe they needed this time away from each other. The past few weeks were absolute hell on their relationship. They needed this break.

They would work this out. They were a team. A pair of alphas. Mates.

_Maybe it's time to leave, and start our own pack…_ She halfheartedly thought, as she jumped out of her truck and looked up at the dormitory that was now her home. The thought made her want to puke. No, she would not start her own pack. She had a pack. Erica and Derek could survive this. They had beaten bad things before.

"This is so stupid." Cora growled, exiting Stiles' jeep with Isaac and Allison. Scott and Stiles had already exited the vehicle and were making their way towards the trunk of Erica's car. Cora, Isaac and Allison simply glared at the dormitory, from their place standing next to the jeep. "Why are you two idiots so eager to help her do this? You hate it as much as we all do."

"Mom said we had to." Scott mumbled.

"Core, you know the woman basically adopted Erica. She was all '_you boys better be supportive of your sister. She's been through enough without you giving her grief.'"_ Stiles said glaring at the group by the car. "And she's right. It's her life. Let her make her own decisions.

Isaac sighed and walked over to Erica, giving her a hug. "I'm sorry Puppy." He said. "Let's go get your room key and stuff?"

Erica nodded and took his hand. Isaac, having gone through orientation at Hale College before helped her through the mess of flyers and paperwork and nametags. After a few minutes they began to walk back to the cars.

"_How much space do they need! He already lives in a guest room. She doesn't need to leave home to get away." _Cora spat.

"_First years have to stay on campus for at least the first semester."_ Scott told her

"_Derek had that requirement waived for me. He had already done it for her! She just up and called the student life department and asked to be put in the dorms." _

"_Cora, the problem is Derek hasn't talked to her since…" _Allison said._ "Can we all agree that none of us in the entire pack like this move one bit, but we all totally understand why she made the decision to leave home in the first place?"_

It was then that she and Isaac made their presence known and the conversation stopped. Erica was under no illusions that the conversation was over, she was just happy that it would continue when they all left or when they were at home with the rest of the pack, and not where she could hear it. The past few days had been consumed with this conversation.

* * *

They spent the next few hours helping her set up her half of the room (by lofting her bed and unpacking her things). Her side started to look like home. She had texted her roommate, asking how she wanted her side of the room, and had her friends help her set up her bed too so she just had to unpack when she came in. Erica had brought most of the shared items, because she had a bigger vehicle. Her roommate even had shipped a few boxes to _Wolf's Run_ last week, because Erica offered to take some things for her.

After all was done the room looked almost complete aside from whatever personal touches her roommate wanted. She gave her friends hugs goodbye and thanked them for helping before they left her in peace.

* * *

She spent the next few hours lying on the futon waiting for her roommate to show. She listened as her fellow students moved in with the help of their parents, listened to the parents tearful goodbyes, listened to the laughter of roommates, and smelt the excitement and fear everyone was feeling of starting college and being on their own.

Erica wanted to cry, because she had never felt so alone in her life. Even after her parent's death, she was never alone. She lived with her pack, a large, loving family of supernatural creatures that were always there for her. This is the first time she ever felt like this and she hated it. She wasn't cut out to be a lone wolf, she needed her pack, and she needed her mate.

Of course, being alone was her fault; it was her decision to live on campus. But it was best to keep her distance from Derek until they settled their issues. They were both alphas, and they were fighting; the continued hostility towards each other would only cause the pack to divide and chose an alpha, which would cause her and Derek to challenge each other for control. Then things would be extremely messy. She would not risk breaking up her family over this argument, and they lived in Derek's house. The most logical option for her was to leave.

Some time apart would be best. Derek would calm down, see how much of a jerk he was being and finally they would talk this out instead of screaming hateful things at each other. They could fix this and go back to being happy again.

"You're living in a fantasy world Reyes." She said to herself letting out a sigh.

"Is talking to yourself going to be a thing?" Came from the doorway. "Also, I'm a little concerned that you didn't hear me coming. What good is a werewolf roommate if she can't sense someone approaching?"

Erica shot up from the futon and let out a squeal, running over to the girl at the door. "Bray-Bray!" She said hugging her friend. They talked and texted frequently since Braeden Deaton left Beacon Hills after her father's funeral, and had become close friends.

"Hey Puppy!" Braeden said, hugging her back, while dropping her duffle bags. "Missed you!"

Erica laughed. "Missed you more!" she said while breaking the hug. "Do you need help unpacking?"

Braeden shook her head. "This is it." She said pointing to the bags on the floor. "I shipped you the stuff that wouldn't fit on my bike, which is parked in the spot next to your truck by the way."

"Cool, well welcome to our new home away from home!" Erica said stepping aside to let Braeden enter the room.

"It's bigger than I expected." She said depositing her bags next to the boxes Erica brought for her before depositing herself on the futon. "So, are you going to tell me what you have been refusing to tell me for the last three weeks or am I supposed to ignore the lack of pack presence in this room?"

Erica sighed and closed their door. "You know what happened Bray." She said walking over to her friend and sitting next to her. "It happened, and we could of moved on from it. But then I said some really stupid things and he said many, many stupid things and we fought for days until he just…stopped talking to me. He moved out of the bedroom and has not uttered a word to me since."

Braeden put her arm around Erica's shoulder and Erica returned the gesture. Her best friend was not a wolf, but she was pack, enough to quell the emotional turmoil being separated from the pack had caused her. And this gave her enough relief to feel like she could breathe again.

She was an alpha now; she needed a pack to feel strength, to reach her full potential. But her pack was also her mate's pack, so when she was fighting with her mate, and their bond was tested, the bonds she had with the other pack members would weaken. No matter who was in the right or wrong (because honestly they both were right and wrong in this case) the pack would side with Derek; because Derek was the alpha that brought them all together. Which is why the links she felt with them all had been weakening slightly since she and Derek began to fight, if this fighting kept up, she would be a lone wolf. Pack-less; all over her and her mate being stubborn alphas that couldn't admit the other person was right.

"You are both stupid." Braeden told her.

Erica laughed. "I'm not the one giving me the silent treatment."

"Maybe so." Braeden sighed. "So I'm assuming that you don't know about the pack meeting tonight to celebrate my return?"

Erica began to tear up. "No. No one told me." Was Derek really going to push her out over this? They were mates! "Why would no one tell me?"

"Well, I'm assuming he didn't tell any of them until you left this morning, and alpha-ordered them not to. I however am under no such obligation." Braeden smirked while moving closer to Erica and hugging her. "I'm sorry Erica. If you want me to, I'll stay here."

"No. No, they are your pack. You made a promise." She told her friend. "You should go."

They stayed quiet for a moment before Braeden spoke up. "I may be Emissary to the Hale Pack, thereby loyal only to Derek Hale but you are my best friend. So I'm going to give you some advice."

Erica pulled away from the hug and starred at Braeden while raising her eyebrow questioningly. "Braeden, don't do something that could get you in trouble…"

"I'm not. You can still feel the pack link right?"

Erica nodded.

"Then technically you are still a Hale Alpha. But Erica, if this nonsense continues for much longer I fear for your safety. A wolf needs a pack, especially if that wolf is an alpha. Derek is not thinking straight right now, I honestly don't think he realizes what he is doing, but we can't wait for him to snap out of it. Because the day you don't feel that link to the members of the Hale Pack any longer is the day you become weaker than a newborn baby."

Erica's heart started to race. "Derek wouldn't let it get that far would he?"

"He hasn't been listening to any of the pack trying to talk some sense into him, he hasn't been listening to me, and he hasn't given you a chance. I can only keep trying and help you protect yourself incase that day comes." Braeden looked solemn. "Erica, you need your own betas. Bitten, Born, it doesn't matter."

Those words hit Erica like a sword to her heart "No. I have a pack."

"Yeah well, maybe not for long." Braeden told her. "I'm sorry. But I think the best plan is to visit my aunt Marin** this weekend, before we start classes on Monday. She can give you pointers on giving humans the bite and give you some information on how to find omegas that could join your pack. She isn't an Emissary to a specific pack anymore so she could advise you. If I were to give you the information myself I'd be compelled to tell Derek."

Erica sighed. She hated everything about this. She loved her pack; they were her family, her friends, and her reason of being. She didn't know how to be a wolf without them. But Braeden was right, if things continued on like they were, she would have to protect herself against the worst-case scenario.

"Okay, we'll drive to San Francisco as soon as the obligatory orientation stuff ends tomorrow night." Erica told her. "But I'm not happy about this."

"I'm not asking you to be happy about this, Puppy. I'm telling my best friend that this is what has to happen to ensure she stays alive in case her mate doesn't get his head out of his ass on time." Braeden said while standing up, and grabbing her purse.

"You should change before you go to _Wolf's Run_. You smell like me." Erica told her. "He's not going to like that."

"I could care less what he likes." Braeden told her. "I have half a mind to ask to take your truck just to drive the point home that you know there was a pack meeting and that you weren't invited. I love that man like a brother, but he's an asshole."

"Bray, I said some horrible things too. We both said things we can never take back, but I crossed a line when we were fighting…Things I can't forgive myself for."

"I know what you said Puppy… I also know what he said to you before that; I know what started that fight. You both were to blame. You don't deserve to become a lone wolf because of it." Braeden said, grabbing the keys to Erica's truck from her desk and tossing her own keys to Erica. "Don't mope in here all night okay? Go to one of the welcome parties or something. I'll be back as soon as I can, then we'll watch movies and stress about orientation tomorrow."

"Yes Ma'am. Sounds like a plan." Erica said trying to smile. "And sure Bray, take my truck without my express permission. Apparently, it's not blatant thievery when it's between friends."

Braeden sighed and walked over to her again pulling her off the futon and grabbing her face, making Erica look her in the eyes. "It's going to be okay! You will be my best friend no matter what happens, and I will do everything I can to help protect you. Even if you end up not being their alpha-female anymore, the Hale pack members will still love you, and still be your friends. Yes, things could change dramatically in the next few weeks, but no matter what, I will make sure you are not alone. Got it?"

Erica smiled. "Got it."

"Good." Braeden said releasing her face and walking towards the door. Before pausing. "Oh, by the way while its on my mind. I may have hooked up with someone a few days ago. And maybe I'm still in contact with her. And maybe I really like her. But that's besides my point…she's an omega, and I'll think you'd like her. I gave her your number, told her you were an alpha in need of a beta. So she may call you, just as a heads up." Braeden said running out the door.

Erica's brain had many questions after that exchange. By the time she could form sentences again, her best friend was out of the door.

* * *

**TO: Bray-Bray**

**Ok, jerk. I have questions!**

**Question 1 - since when do you hook up with girls? Thanks for the info. I feel like a shitty friend for not knowing. So do you lovvvvveeee her yet? What's her name? How old is she? Does she lovvvvvveeee you too? Can I be your maid of honor? Get it girl!**

* * *

**TO: Bray-Bray**

**Question 2- why are you giving my info out to random omegas? I just reluctantly agreed to start up my own pack. I'm sure I'll like her if you like her but…**

* * *

**FROM Bray-Bray:**

**I've always been Bi, Puppy. Don't feel like a shitty friend, I just never mentioned it because I knew you wouldn't really care either way. My aunt is freaked thou so I didn't want to risk it yaknow?**

* * *

**FROM Bray-Bray:**

**Her name is Rosalyn. She's originally from a pack in Colombia. I met her a few weeks ago and she's kind of my girlfriend. I think we might be mates but she won't confirm or deny that, I only just convinced her to tell me she was a wolf. She didn't know I was an Emissary. I really like her.**

* * *

**FROM Bray-Bray:**

**If you and Der-Bear had repaired things when I came back I was going to ask him to let her join the Hale Pack. But I think maybe you and her…need each other? It'd be nice to have my best friend and my girlfriend looking out for one another. No pressure. Just meet her, if you don't want her to be your beta, I'll ask Captain Asshat if she can join ok?**

* * *

**FROM Bray-Bray:**

**We're still going to San Fran though, If you take her on or not.**

* * *

**TO: Bray-Bray**

**Fine. I'll meet her. Send me the info.**

* * *

Braden's next message came with a phone number attached.

**FROM Bray-Bray:**

**THANK YOU BESTIE! Ok, gtg. I'm late; I need to start driving now. Texting and driving is not good. Btw, nice wheels.**

* * *

**TO: Bray-Bray**

**I better not regret this. And thanks it was my dad's.**

* * *

The texts stopped for a while after that. And Erica composed a text to the number Braeden forwarded to her, asking to meet. She got a reply ten minutes later.

**FROM Rosalyn:**

**Hi Erica! I'm glad Bray passed my info along. I was nervous to call you. I would be interested in joining your pack. I'm on a bus right now to Beacon Hills. I was on my way because I was missing Braeden. The driver says we should be passing through in an hour. Is it okay to meet tonight?**

* * *

This was going too fast for her. She knew she had to do this, and she'd promised Braeden. But part of her was holding out hope for her and Derek to patch things up.

* * *

**FROM Bray-Bray:**

**Just got in the gate. He changed the code. It used to be your birthday, now it's not. Please meet with her E, yes he'll change his mind but I think that by the time he does it will be too late.**

* * *

At this news, her heart sank. He changed the gate code? She realized that what she said was stupid and horrible and completely untrue, but he said some horrible things too. Was she supposed to stand there listening to him scream lies at her and not retaliate?

Yes, she could have handled it better, they both could have, but how could he push her out like that? Granted she was the one that left, but only because she saw the strain the fighting was putting on the pack. How could they be over? They were mates. Wolves mated for life. She was incapable of loving another person now that she experienced the joys and sorrows of loving Derek Hale.

She let out a whimper. Her heart was broken. Soon she would be a lone wolf.

She needed a new pack. But the thought of turning people when she herself had been a wolf for less than a year felt wrong. So she'd meet with this Rosalyn.

_Start slowly, _her inner wolf said, _if it feels right, form a bond. One at a time. No rush. It has to feel right._

* * *

**TO: Rosalyn**

**There is a diner across from the bus station. I'll meet you there.**

* * *

Erica quickly got dressed and grabbed her motorcycle helmet, along with Braeden's keys and locked the dorm room as she left.

She was not a simpering newly turned teen she-wolf any longer. She didn't need Derek Hale and her friends to teach her how to be a wolf. She had only been a wolf eight months but she was good at it, she was meant to be a she-wolf, she knew that in her bones. She would not sit in her dorm room crying because she and her mate were fighting. She would grow up and do what needed to be done to protect herself.

She was an Alpha. She needed her own pack. If her and Derek patched things up one day then her new pack would merge into her old pack and everything would be fine. But for now she needed a beta of her own, to draw strength from and give strength to, she needed at least three betas to be considered a pack, but didn't want to move to quickly.

She'd start with meeting Rosalyn, then plan her next move from there.

* * *

**AN: Hope you like it! Chapter 2 up in a few days! (hopefully less)**

**Check out my writing tumblr (**hailhaleswriting**) Or visit **allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf ** for bonus info and updates.**

* * *

**FootNote:**

**I think Ms. Morell's first name is Marin. Idk if I've gotten that from the show, wolf watch or just by reading fics, but I'm going with it.


	2. Two

**AN: Okay, I realize that everyone is confused on what the hell happened to our Derica, this chapter and the next one will reveal all. Pinky promise. You'll start to understand why Derek is freezing her out, and you'll be sympathetic to her side as well. If there wasn't any conflict there would not be a story to tell, and I prefer this couple drama to kick this story off rather than introduce a "bad guy" at the start because the fight they had was a human fight to have. Human couples go through similar disagreements all the time, and it's tough for some people to get past the initial argument and all the nasty things you say after while arguing. Couples have fights, and the one they had was pretty messy, and they are both alpha wolves so their fights are going to be bad. Add their 10 year age difference and things are bound to get complex. **

**The first half of the story is about them trying to move past this and Erica trying to define herself as Erica Reyes, Alpha Werewolf, not strictly as Derek Hale's mate. Erica doesn't really have an identity without the Hale Pack and I thought it would be interesting to see how she could cope if a falling out with Derek caused her to start to lose that. **

**I'm sorry to the reviewer that was upset by the first chapter (and probably many others were too… I mean who wasn't upset? I cried when I got the idea.) I hope you can stick around for a few more chapters. I promise that they aren't over as a couple; they are just both really hurt after what happened and need to sort themselves out. And if this helps you hang around heres a small spoiler…Derek stops with the silent treatment in the next chapter, the events of this chapter snap him out of his anger to see what is happening to his mate, his family and his pack.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OC). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine.**

**I'd like to thank my friend Allie for proof reading chapter one of this story and most chapters of TSW, supporting me through my whole journey into the Teen She-Wolf AU, being a sounding board for all my ideas and for talking me down from tears when I get a bad review. You are the best Al! Even though you are probs going to yell at me for using your name on the Internet. I'm sorry; I cannot simply call you "my friend" indefinitely.**

**Okay peeps. Here's chapter two. Sorry for the angst, I promise this whole story wont be angst. Please bear with me for a few more chapters.**

* * *

**Alpha She-Wolf**

**Chapter Two**

* * *

Erica got to the diner and sat in the booth. She ordered herself a burger and fries and waited for Rosalyn's bus to arrive. The Hale Pack, her family, kept texting her but she refused to respond; she had a few things on her mind.

If she was going to do this she had to support herself and her future betas. And that presented a problem. She was a college student, and she needed to stay in school to better her options in the long term. The brochures they handed out when Isaac helped her sign in mentioned a meeting tomorrow morning, before regular orientation meetings started, about on-campus employment opportunities. If she could find something to work around her class schedule, that would be ideal. It wouldn't be much but a job along with her meal plan would keep herself and her betas fed. Now, she sort of wished she had access to her trust fund to pay for more than school expenses; an alpha needed to make sure their pack was safe and secure.

She could figure it out with Rosalyn, if she decided to take her on.

_Who are you kidding Reyes. You've already decided to take her on. You are desperate for the security a beta of your own will bring._

An alpha-roar in the distance broke her from her thoughts, and knew it was Derek, but she was not able to translate what he was calling for.

Because only pack could understand each other's howls…

Erica wiped her eyes to stop the tears and decided to read her texts after all. She was already heartbroken. It couldn't get any worse could it?

* * *

**From Isaac:**

**Why aren't you here Pup? I was looking forward to cuddles.**

* * *

**From Stiles: **

**SourAlpha didn't invite you! I'm sorry dearest Puppy.**

* * *

**From Foxy-Lady: **

**u r not here. : ( I foxfire-ed him for not letting you come. extra training is worth it.**

* * *

**From Bray-Bray: **

**Sorry about the roar, I told him my omega girlfriend was passing through his territory tonight. He's got his panties in a twist.**

* * *

**From Aiden: **

**Miss you Blondie. Hope this blows over soon.**

* * *

**From Ethan: **

**We still love you kiddo. Do what you have to. Survive.**

* * *

**From Sheriff John:**

**I have no clue what's going on Erica, but Mel and I are here for you if you need us. Derek Hale isn't the boss of me. I can shoot him if you want me to.**

* * *

**From Mama McCall:**

**Don't worry, I wont let John shoot him…unless of course you say so. But we both are here if you need our help with anything. I'm sorry this is happening Erica. I will see you tomorrow evening for your check up.**

* * *

**From Mama Martin-Hale: **

**I'm not saying I regret bringing him back from the dead, I'm just saying the boy could be appreciative and listen to my advice once and awhile as thanks for bringing him back from the dead. This is getting out of hand. Let me know if you need anything okay?**

* * *

**From Peter: **

**Do what needs to be done to keep yourself alive. We will all keep working on my nephew in the meantime.**

* * *

**From Cora: **

**I have an idea what you and Bray have planned, and I like it even less than I liked the idea of you moving out. You both are stupid.**

* * *

**From Scotty:**

**Erica, everyone thinks you are leaving us because Derek forced you out. Please, don't leave us. You two can fix this.**

* * *

**From Malia: **

**Shit. I hate this.**

* * *

**From Danny-Boy: **

**Erica, please respond to somebody okay? We're worried.**

* * *

**From Boyd: **

**Pup. Everyone is hurting over this; we can't keep this up for long.**

* * *

**From Ally: **

**I love you, but this is horrible. You REALLY should have not drawn those parallels between his relationship with Kate and his relationship with you. I know you didn't mean it, but this is going to take too long to fix.**

* * *

**From Jax: **

**Blondie, Blondie, Blondie… wtf were you thinking. He is so messed up right now.**

* * *

**From Foxy-Lady: **

**You don't get to not answer us! We love you! I will fox-fire you if I have to!**

* * *

**From Lyd: **

**Call /text me as soon as you can. Don't you dare shut us out!**

* * *

**From Stiles:**

**If you don't respond to anyone's texts I will hunt you down, I swear to God I will, and I will drag you back here, lock you and SourWolf in a room until you two work this shit out.**

* * *

**From Isaac: **

**Erica? Are you really never coming back to us? Making your own pack?**

* * *

Erica knew that they would keep texting all night if she didn't respond somehow so she opened a group email message, and typed out her response to all of them. Including Derek.

**TO: The Hale Pack (Derek Hale, Braeden Deaton, Cora Hale, Malia Tate, Peter Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall, Isaac Lahey, Allison McCall-Lahey, Vernon Boyd, Sarah Martin- Hale, Lydia Martin, Jackson Whittemore, Ethan Jones, Aiden Jones, Danny**** Mahealani****, Kira Yukimura, John Stilinski, and Melissa McCall)**

**Everyone. I'll be fine. I'm just too upset to talk now. It hurts me to even read your messages. I'm not going to do well as a lone wolf, I know it, so I'm sorry but I have to make my own pack. I still love you all, and I'm willing to be friends if Derek allows you to talk to me. I promise to text later, regardless. Just give me the night? Okay?**

**Derek, I love you. I'm sorry for all the things I said, they were out of line. You are nothing like that woman. I had no right to say you were like that abusive devil-woman no matter how badly we were fighting. Everything we did was consensual, and I never felt forced or coerced by you.**

**I'm sorry our grief fueled fight snowballed into this horrible situation we find ourselves in. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to carry our child. I'm sorry I'm not ready to be a mother… I'm sorry for it all. I hope one day we can move past this, and maybe we can be together again. **

**Maybe one day we all can be a pack again, one day you can accept me, and any betas I make, with open arms and we will all live happily ever after at Wolf's Run. I hope that if that can't happen, we can at least co-exist in Beacon Hills peacefully until I'm out of school and can move myself and my pack elsewhere.**

**Love Always, **

**Erica Reyes**

* * *

As she hit send she smelt a lone wolf approaching. She wiped her eyes and stood up, waving the girl over.

She was about Erica's height and body type, except Rosalyn's hair was inky black, her completion was tan, and Erica could see claw marks on her neck extending down her back. She dragged a small rollaway suitcase behind her and carried a jacket and messenger bag. She smiled as she made her way towards Erica, and Erica could smell the excitement, nervousness, and fear rolling off the woman.

"Hi, I'm Erica Reyes." Erica said holding out her hand, after Rosalyn set her things down in the booth.

"Rosalyn Perez." She said with a smile, while shaking Erica's hand. "A pleasure to meet you Alpha Reyes."

Erica laughed and motioned towards the booth. "Call me Erica." She said as she sits down. "Order what you want. It's on me." She told her as the waitress came over with Erica's long awaited meal.

Rosalyn sat down as well and looked surprised, but ordered and watched as Erica started picking at her meal, feeling odd eating at when someone else at the table wasn't.

"Is there something wrong?" Erica asked, pushing her plate of fries to the middle of the table so Rosalyn could snack on them while she waited for her food.

Rosalyn laughed nervously while picking up a fry. "It's just that. All the alphas I've met haven't been kind and are really particular about addressing them by their rank." She said touching the scars on her neck.

"Who is that from?" Erica asked.

"My last alpha, My Father." Rosalyn whispered. "I wouldn't marry an alpha from a neighboring pack when I was fifteen. The man was my father's age and treated all his previous wives horribly, plus by then I knew I liked women and not men. Father tried to beat some sense into me, even dipped his claws in wolfsbane and other herbs, just so the marks would scar. I ran that day and never looked back."

Erica wasn't too shocked. She remembered the last name Perez from when the Thorne Pack attacked at the beginning of the year. They were unsure who it could be so they used Family Crests to narrow the list down. The Perez Pack had been on the short list of potential attackers. Peter had said: _I don't know who their alpha is, or anything recent about them. Keep them as suspects. Last I heard they were still living in the old days. It could be them._**Living in the old days meant she-wolves and humans were seen as lesser beings. This could be an entirely different Perez Pack, but Erica had a feeling they were one and the same.

"So I assume you don't share your father's belief regarding she-wolves and non-wolves?"

"No, of course not." Rosalyn said scrunching up her nose.

"Do I have to worry about you old pack coming after you?"

"No. It's been nearly seven years. Even if my brother were in charge now, he wouldn't want me back." Rosalyn said.

"Are you here legally?" Erica asked. "I'm sorry if that's rude I just…"

"No it's fine. I'm here legally." Rosalyn told her. "My father had been doing business with a drug cartel, so after he attacked me, and I realized I would live, I made my way to the American embassy and sought asylum. Gave them what information I could, It wasn't too much but it was enough to allow me to get a visa. I went to college here, got my teaching degree, and as of last year I am officially an American citizen.^^"

"That's great." Erica desperately wanted to bite this wolf, make her apart of her pack. She felt drawn to Rosalyn.

_This is right. _Her inner wolf said. _She is our Beta. _

Erica smiled at the waitress as she brought Roslyn's food, and pushed her fry plate back towards herself, waiting for the human woman to be out of earshot. "I don't know how much you know about me Rosalyn. But I must warn you. I was only bitten eight months ago, and only rose as an alpha six months ago when my mate died…"

"I'm sorry for your loss…"

"Don't be, he had himself resurrected. But my point is I'm pretty new at this, and I think that you might like Derek as your alpha more…"

"I really don't think I would." Rosalyn said firmly, touching her neck again. At the mention of Derek, Erica smelt a different kind of fear radiating from Rosalyn, and it alarmed her. This woman was deeply afraid of male alphas. "And I don't know your whole story, just that your old/current pack link is fading away, and soon you'll be a lone wolf, and Bray is worried for you."

"Well, if you are sure… how do we do this?" Erica asked, deciding to bring up Rosalyn's fear at a later time.

"You have to bite me. After I swear fealty to you and you accept me."

Erica looked around the diner, making sure that no one was looking. She got up and sat in the booth besides Rosalyn. This way if anyone looked they'd just see two young women cuddling up on a first date.

"Okay…Shit I'm really nervous." Erica told her.

"Me too. I've been a lone wolf so long though, so I'm ready." Rosalyn told her. "I, Rosalyn Perez, swear fealty to you, Alpha Erica Reyes."

"I, Erica Reyes, accept you, Rosalyn Perez, as my beta." Erica said before letting her wolf teeth show. "Where do you want it?"

It would be tricky, sometimes claiming marks or changing bites from an alpha didn't heal, it just depended on the alpha. Scott's bite from Peter healed and you'd never know it was there, Stiles' bite from Derek could still be seen on his upper right arm. Erica's own changing bite on her neck had healed within days, but the mark Derek gave her the first time they had sex, could still be seen on her collar-bone.

"Can you put it over the claw marks? I can hide it with my hair and if it ends up scaring…"

Erica nodded and went for Rosalyn's neck, clamped her teeth down briefly and immediately released her grip. She didn't want the bite to last too long, in case it hurt Rosalyn. Erica took a napkin from the table and placed it on the bite before getting up and returning to her seat.

She felt the bond forming. It was strong, and made her feel stronger. The feeling of being on a verge of a panic attack and feeling alone was gone. Rosalyn was her beta now. She could still feel the faint links to the Hale Pack, and she still missed them but having Rosalyn as a beta brought comfort and strength back that Erica hadn't realized she was missing. It made the pain of being pushed out of her old pack a bit bearable.

Rosalyn smiled at her and flipped her hair over her shoulder to cover the bleeding wound before digging into her meal. Erica could feel the happiness and security radiate through their new bond and from Rosalyn. Braeden was right; Rosalyn and Erica needed each other.

"So, after we eat, do you maybe want to go for a run on the preserve?" Erica asked.

She felt Rosalyn's excitement through the bond, as Rosalyn nodded, unable to speak with her mouthful. Running with pack under the moon, even if it wasn't full was a great way to bond, and also the pull of the moon was a high like no other. It was intoxicating and freeing to run in the moonlight.

She heard Derek's roar in the distance followed by many pained howls.

"Is that your old pack?" Rosalyn asked, while taking a bite of her meal.

"Yes. But I don't understand what they are saying." Erica said, letting her sadness seep into her voice. She was happy she had Rosalyn, but hated that her friends were in pain because of Her and Derek being idiots.

They really needed to talk soon. She realized that she needed her own betas, because an alpha without betas that are loyal only to them was weak. But, at the same time, she also had the need to share the strength and sprit Rosalyn brought to her with her mate and his betas. She wanted them all to be together; two packs untied as one by her mating bond with Derek.

Rosalyn grabbed for Erica's hand, and siphoned some of her pain from her. "I'm sorry Erica. I understand what you are going through. I want to be your friend too, as well as your beta. When you are comfortable I'm willing to listen."

Erica smiled as Rosalyn broke the contact. The brief moment was enough to help her not howl in response, and not shed a tear. "Thanks."

* * *

**From Bray-Bray: **

**Congrats on the beginnings of The Reyes Pack. I'm going to stop by the diner in a few and exchange my bike for your truck so you two can wolfy-bond and what not. I have to stay the night at Wolf's Run tonight so don't wait up.**

* * *

They spent the hour eating and talking. Erica explained the events that happened when she was turned up until her graduation (deciding to leave the events of the summer until later) and Rosalyn filled Erica in on the last six years of her life.

She preferred to be called Rose, she was turning 23 in December and her favorite color was purple. She went to high school in Los Angeles, and then went to college at UCLA. She tended to dodge the wolf packs in the LA area because they all had male alphas, most with attachments to organized crime, which hit too close to home for her. She spent her time hiding from other wolves in plain sight, as it was hard to pick up individual scents in such a large metropolitan area. She moved to San Francisco after graduation, and started waiting tables, until she could find a teaching position. She wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, and was hopeful she could find an opening in Beacon Hills. A few weeks ago, she walked into a bar and started to chat up a girl, and instantly felt drawn to her. That girl was Braeden, and they had been seeing each other ever sense.

"She's your mate isn't she?" Erica asked, taking note of how Rosalyn practically glowed when the topic of Braeden came up. Erica looked out the window in time to see the woman in question pull up in Erica's truck. They had finished eating so Erica searched her wallet for appropriate amount of cash to cover the check and a tip while Rosalyn gathered up her bags.

"Yes. I just don't want to freak her out. So I have been dodging her question." Roaslyn said.

Erica smiled. "You wont freak her out. She's a Druid, Rose, they are the most unflappable of supernatural species. Plus she already knows. Go out and greet her, I'll make sure the waitress gets this."

Rosalyn smiled and made her way out of the dinner, bags in tow. Erica made her way to the counter and gave the waitress her money. Buy the time she made it outside the kissing was coming to an end, and Braden was making her way to the back of the truck to help Rosalyn load her bags.

"So Braeden, I don't want to say this, because I know you are going to be positively …Deaton-like about it, but you were right. Rose and I needed each other. She is the perfect person to be my first Beta."

Braeden just looked up and gave Erica a tiny smirk. "I was wasn't I?" Was all she said as she finished putting Roaslyn's bags in the trunk of the truck and locked them up before tossing Erica the keys.

Erica glared at her friend as she caught her keys before tossing Braeden her set of keys. Braeden kissed Rosalyn again before making her way toward her bike and putting on Erica's helmet. "Oh by they way, Derek wants to meet my new girlfriend." She told Rosalyn.

Rosalyn froze and Erica growled, sensing her beta's distress at meeting Derek causing her protective instinct to surge. She was not going to let her beta, a woman that had a fear of male alphas, go into a den filled with wolves she didn't know alone. "She doesn't go to _Wolf's Run_ without me Bray."

Braeden nodded. "We'll figure something out. He's just trying his hand at the big brother act I think. That or trying to learn about how you are doing without having to talk to you. I'll see you two tomorrow. Rose, your coming with us to San Fran right? We can pack up the rest of your things while Erica talks to my aunt."

Rosalyn nodded and Braeden drove away.

"You two have orientation tomorrow during the day right?" Rosalyn asked. Erica nodded in response. "I was going to spend the day job hunting and looking for a place."

Erica opened her mouth, instinctively wanting to tell her beta that she would live at _Wolf's Run_ with the rest of the pack. That they had plenty of room now that Derek had four new houses built for their growing pack. Biting Rosalyn had healed the brokenness inside her so well that she was able to forget, for a brief moment, that she was no longer a co-alpha of the Hale Pack, and that her mate was not talking to her. The annoyingly optimistic part of her wanted her beta to wait to find a place to live, because they all belonged at _Wolf's Run _together.

"I'd start with the elementary schools, they don't start classes for another few weeks, and they may need another teacher. As for living arrangements…you'll stay at the dorm room with Bray and I for now, and when we get your things, we'll put them in storage until we figure out pack housing…okay?" Erica told her.

Rosalyn stepped forward and embraced Erica, and Erica returned the embrace. "You are mates Erica, It will work itself out in the end. Until then I don't mind living in a dorm room again."

Erica broke the embraced and grinned.

"Now, about that run…"

* * *

They ran for hours and didn't end up getting back to the dorm room until around two in the morning. They both ended up pulling the futon out and cuddling together and Erica spilled her entire story.

"Three weeks ago Derek and I woke up to the smell of blood. There was blood everywhere, it covered the sheets and it was coming from me. Naturally we were both freaked. He called his uncle and Melissa, the human nurse I told you about, and they figured out what had happened between the three of them. I was too busy being in shock to help…"

Rosalyn eyes widened in recognition and she whimpered. "I'm sorry Erica…how far along were you?"

"That's the thing. We didn't even know I was pregnant. We went through mating season and I wasn't pregnant after that and that was the only time we didn't use protection. Peter said that if the pregnancy were older than a week we would have all at least smelt the change on me… He then went on to explain that it was common for bitten she-wolves to miscarry within the first year of getting the bite, apparently my internal physiology is still being transformed and takes time to settle. Those types of changes don't provide a healthy environment for a fetus to develop."

"And your mate got angry that your body rejected his child? That's why he is pushing you out of the pack?"

Erica sat up quickly from her position. "Rose, you don't know Derek, and I know that you have a history with male alphas you aren't ready to share with me so I'll let that comment slide." She said glaring down at Rose. "Derek Hale is a good man. He is kind, loving and supportive. If miscarrying our baby was the only thing that happened I'd be lying in his arms tonight."

Rosalyn nodded. "I'm sorry for assuming…it's a knee–jerk reaction I guess."

Erica nodded and settled back down next to her beta. "I felt the extreme loss…that I could have had a pup, a new pack member, and I was grieving for that but I was also relieved. After it sunk in that I was pregnant I had been terrified, Derek assumed that I was upset I lost the baby and so he began talking how that we had plenty of time to get pregnant after my body got used to being a wolf, we could try again. I then had to explain to him that I was terrified of what it would have meant if I hadn't miscarried… That I wasn't ready to be anyone's mother… that I barely know who I am…that I was relieved that my body rejected the baby because the thought of having a child at eighteen, so soon after all the other major changes in my life was the most terrifying thing I could think of."

Rosalyn nodded "But Hale is an older wolf…his wolf is probably demanding he mate and produce pups as soon as possible. That's what caused the fight. You two are in two different places in your life, and probably never thought about talking about such things before because you assumed that since you were so in sync on everything else, you both felt the same about a family."

Erica tilted her head and studied Rose. "Yeah…that's how it started. How did you know?"

"I was in love before, she wasn't my mate but I loved her… " Rose sighed. "I met her when I was in high school, started running with her pack, her cousin was alpha and he reminded me so much of my father and brothers. He was terrifying. But I loved her, so I stuck around. She was older than me, and wanted to settle down, and start having pups. I was seventeen, I wasn't ready for it…" Rose said beginning to cry. "I especially was not keen on the idea she wanted her cousin to have sex with me to father our pups… I didn't know she felt so strongly about settling down, we felt similar on every other subject that came up except that. It ended us."

Erica hugged her beta closer, realizing how similar she and Rose were. "This won't end Derek and I. We are mates. But it started an ugly, fight that when on for days. Insults flew, neither of us could think rationally, fueled by the grief of the loss and anger that the other one wasn't listening to what we had to say. We were fighting, it was bad, but at least we were talking…until I crossed the line and brought up Kate."

"The Argent Hunter that set the Hale Fire about a decade ago?"

"Yes. When Derek was about fifteen he met Paige, fell in love. I don't know exactly how it happened by she was bitten my an alpha of another pack and her body was rejecting the bite…so rather than let his first love suffer…"

"He killed her." Rosalyn said. "Sacrificing your own innocence so someone else doesn't suffer…maybe Hale isn't so bad after all. That is very noble."

Erica nodded. "That's Derek. So naturally he went into a deep depression and was very vulnerable in the months after. Kate Argent swooped in while sixteen-year-old Derek was grieving and vulnerable…she was a decade older, forceful and made him feel special. She used him and hurt him more than I think anyone knows about, he doesn't talk about it at all, not to me, not to his sister, not to Peter…"

"Oh dear, you drew parallels between his relationship with her and your relationship with him…" Rosalyn gasped, "Alpha, with all due respect…"

"It was the lowest of low blows. In the heat of the moment it made sense. I was bitten, introduced to wolves, became an orphan, became a killer, fought for my life an fell in love with the man that changed me… all in a manner of weeks. In the heat of the moment it made sense to blame him for everything. I have never been so wrong in my life. I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth, but it was too late, I couldn't take them back and the look on his face… I never had seen anyone so broken in my life. I don't blame him for pushing me away, for not wanting to talk to me, what I said was unforgivable."

"It doesn't mean you don't deserve to be forgiven Erica."

* * *

The two of them lay there talking for a few more hours. The sun was coming up and Erica dreaded attempting to get through the day with no sleep. But was excited to start the day regardless; it was her first official day at college. She and Rose both went through the routine of showering and getting dressed, and coordinating their plans for the day.

She had been giving Rose directions to the local schools when, Rosalyn began to growl. Erica sniffed the air. Braeden was on just down the hall, and by the scent three of her former pack were storming on ahead of her.

The doorknob turned and the light flicked on. "I'm sorry Erica. I swear, they followed me back; I had no say in it." Braeden said entering the room.

"Mini-Deaton, were we supposed to let you navigate the mean streets of Beacon Hills alone? At this ungodly hour?" Jackson said, entering the room followed by Stiles and Isaac.

The three male wolves were glaring towards the futon where Erica and Rosalyn were seated. Rosalyn, feeling threatened by the new males was growling, her eyes flashing yellow.

"Sh, Rose. They wont hurt us." Erica said, calming her beta and standing up, signaling for Braeden to sit next to her mate. Braeden hurried over and sat next to Rose, calming her immediately.

"Well, well, well…if it isn't the home-wreaker…" Stiles said his own eyes flashing yellow, as Isaac shut the door behind them. "Ruin any packs lately? Break any families apart? Steal any Puppy-Alphas from their adoring packs?"

"Stiles…" Erica warned, her eyes flashing red. "Leave her alone. Rose, you can take my truck today. Stiles will drive to my appointment this afternoon." Erica said, grabbing her purse and phone and making her way to the door. "You three can follow me. Rose, call me if you need anything. Bray, I'll see you at orientation in a few hours."

She left the room at that. She knew that the boys were following her, and she wouldn't have to resort to pushing them away from Rose. Jackson walked quickly to her side and she could feel Stiles and Isaac falling into step behind her. It felt good to have them near, but painful because the link she felt with them was not as strong as it had been.

"I thought I asked to be left alone for the night." Erica asked when the finally exited the building, as she looked around for a place to sit. It was still very early in the morning and all the first years were either nursing hangovers or still asleep, so no one was on the quad. She simply opted to lean against the nearest tree, deciding sitting was a bad idea if they were mad and looking for an argument.

"It's a new day. We gave you your night away. Come home now." Stiles sneered, beginning to sound an awful lot like his mate.

"What happened to being supportive of her decision? I remember you saying yesterday that it was her life, she needed to make her own choices." Isaac asked.

"Fuck that." Jackson said.

"What he said, and that was before she bit the home-wrecker, and Mini-Deaton gave her ideas of making her own pack." He responded.

Erica raised her eyebrow at them. "That's two strikes Stiles, one more cheap shot at either my beta or my best friend and I cannot be held responsible for my actions."

"Guess the puppy has some bite." Jackson said with a smile. "Have you checked your phone yet?"

Taken aback by the change in the conversational tone, Erica took a moment to answer. "No."

"We had some progress with your other half last night." Stiles said, his voice losing almost all of its venom and returning to its normal sarcastic, non-threatening tone. "And let me just say, the two of you? Perfect for each other! Never met two people so stubborn in my entire life! And I'm mated to Cora, My brother is a hardheaded idiot, and well… have you met me! But you and SourWolf…you two win it all. So, congrats on that."

She pulled her phone from her purse and saw she had a three new text messages from Derek. The first one was blank.

* * *

**From Derek:**

**meet me after your check-up with Melissa tonight**

* * *

**From Derek:**

**please.**

* * *

"Thank god." She sighed looking to her friends who were all looking at her with anticipation.

"So are mommy and daddy getting back together?" Jackson asked. "How is daddy going to handle mommy's love child? Will all the kids play nice?"

Erica smiled. "Funny jokes Jax. No wonder Kira keeps you around."

"Seriously Puppy, good news texts or bad new texts?" Isaac asked. "Many of us have made attempts at stealing his phone in the past few hours, but he keeps thwarting us."

"And hitting us on the head." Stiles said rubbing the back of his skull.

"We're going to meet tonight." She smiled as hope bubbled in her heart.

Stiles, Isaac and Jackson let out a cheer in happiness and tackled her to the ground.

* * *

**AN: Hope you enjoyed! See you in a few days for chapter 3! Footnotes and Character info follow this note…**

**Check out my writing tumblr (**hailhaleswriting**) Or visit **allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf ** for bonus info and updates. **

* * *

**Footnotes (a few go with character info below):**

*In My AU Kira is a half kitsune, meaning since she has a human father she will not live hundreds of years like her mother has, she will just live longer than a normal human.

^ Hale Wolf- Hale females have the ability to turn into an actual wolf at will. Cora's wolf is Black, and Malia's is grey. In Teen She Wolf, Derek Hale was able to tap into this latent genetic ability and now can change into a beast, but not a wolf, his form is similar to the form Peter Hale took when he was alpha.

** Perez pack is mentioned in Chapter 8 of Teen She-Wolf

^^ Okay, so. IDK if this is a legit way to get into the US, so please don't take this as gospel. I really just made it up, IDK how, if Rosalyn were a real person, she would go about getting into the US legally.

* * *

**Characters: Names/Ages/Occupations/Species/and Relationships:**

**Aged 18**

**Erica Reyes: **First Year At Hale College, Alpha (Bitten) Wolf, Mate Of Derek Hale

**Braeden Deaton: **First Year At Hale College, Druid, Emissary To The Hale Pack, Mate Of Rosalyn Perez, Daughter Of Dr. Alan Deaton, Niece Of Marin Morell

**Aged 19**

**Kira Yukimura: **Sophomore At Hale College, Kitsune* (Thunder), Mate Of Jackson Whittemore

**Aged 20**

**Malia Tate: **Sophomore At Hale College, Beta (Born) Wolf, Hale Wolf^, Mate Of Vernon Boyd, Daughter Of Peter Hale, Cousin Of Derek Hale and Cora Hale, Step-Daughter Of Sarah Martin-Hale, Step-Sister Of Lydia Martin

**Daniel "Danny" Mahealani: **Junior At Hale College, Beta (Bitten) Wolf, Mate Of Ethan Jones

**Aged 21**

**Cora Hale: **Junior At Hale College, Beta (Born) Wolf, Hale Wolf, Mate Of "Stiles" Stilinski, Sister Of Derek Hale, Cousin Of Malia Tate, Niece Of Peter Hale

**Isaac Lahey: **Junior At Hale College, Beta (Bitten) Wolf, Mate Of Scott McCall and Allison McCall-Lahey

**Aiden Jones: **Junior At Hale College, Beta (Born) Wolf, Mate Of Lydia Martin, Brother Of Ethan Jones

**Ethan Jones: **Junior At Hale College, Beta (Born) Wolf, Mate Of Daniel Mahealani, Brother Of Aiden Jones

**Vernon Boyd:** Junior At Hale College, Beta (Bitten) Wolf, Mate Of Malia Tate

**Jackson Whittemore: **Junior At Hale College, Beta (Bitten) Wolf, Mate Of Kira Yukimura

**Scott McCall: **Junior At Hale College, Beta (Bitten) Wolf, Mate Of Allison McCall-Lahey and Isaac Lahey, Son Of Mellissa McCall, Step-Son Of John Stilinksi, Step-Brother Of "Stiles" Stilinski

**? "**_**Stiles"**_** Stlinski: **Junior At Hale College, Beta (Bitten) Wolf, Mate Of Cora Hale, Son Of John Stilinski, Step-Son Of Mellissa McCall, Step-Brother Of Scott McCall

**Aged 22**

**Allison McCall-Lahey: **Junior At Hale College, Human, Former Argent Hunter, Mate Of Scott McCall and Isaac Lahey

**Lydia Martin: **Junior At Hale College, Banshee, Mate Of Aiden Jones, Daughter Of Sarah Martin-Hale, Step-Daughter Of Peter Hale, Step-Sister Of Malia Tate

**Rosalyn Perez: **Pre-K Teacher, Beta (Born) Wolf, Former Omega, Mate Of Braeden Deaton

**Aged 27+**

**Derek Hale: **CEO Of Hale Holdings, Board Member Of Hale College, Alpha (Born) Wolf, Hale Wolf, Mate Of Erica Reyes, Brother Of Cora Hale, Cousin Of Malia Tate, Nephew Of Peter Hale

**Peter Hale: **CFO Of Hale Holdings, Beta (Born) Wolf, Husband/Mate Of Sarah Martin-Hale, Father Of Malia Tate, Step-Father Of Lydia Martin, Uncle Of Derek Hale and Cora Hale

**Sarah Martin-Hale: **Teacher At BHHS,Banshee, Wife/Mate Of Peter Hale, Mother Of Lydia Martin, Step-Mother Of Malia Tate

**Melissa McCall: **Nurse, Human, Wife Of John Stilinksi, Mother Of Scott McCall, Step-Mother Of "Stiles" Stilinski

**John Stilinksi: **Sheriff, Human, Husband Of Mellissa McCall, Father Of "Stiles" Stilinski, Step-Father Of Scott McCall.


	3. Three

**AN: here's chapter three! Thanks to all who have reviewed/read/favorite-d etc so far! ILY all!**

**I know this one is a bit shorter, but I didn't want to jam too much into one chapter. This chapter is a little lighter emotionally than the first two, I think we all needed a break.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OC). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine**

* * *

**Alpha She-Wolf**

**Chapter Three**

* * *

She barely made it to the meeting about on campus employment on time, because apparently rolling around in the grass and tickling her was more important to her pack-brothers than her figuring out how to get a job. Since not many of the Hale Pack that went to school had jobs that weren't volunteer positions their minds were boggled. But despite their efforts to convince her she didn't need to go, she made it.

That meeting lasted only a half hour because of all the orientation meetings. She met Braeden outside the auditorium and they sat together listening to the school administrators talk about school policies and suggest them what they could be doing the second half of the day (tour the town, get to know your neighbors, attend one of the scheduled Q and A sessions, attend the activities fair etc). After that, they stood in lines to get their welcome packets including finalized class schedules and reading lists and information for their academic advisor appointments.

"Why did they make us move in on a Thursday, if they essentially only needed to talk to us for a half a day on a Friday?" Braeden asked flipping through her welcome packet. "We already had our schedules weeks ago, and our books. The only new information is this that we have to email our academic advisors and meet with them by next Friday."

"Not everyone grew up in Beacon Hills, Bray. I guess they wanted to make sure we get settled in before everyone else starts to arrive tomorrow and we start classes on Monday. Give some time to the out-of-towners to get used to Beacon Hills and Hale College campus." Erica responded. "I guess I should call Melissa and let her know I can move up my check-up, I thought this would be an all day thing… I don't really want to go to any of those panels or the activities fair."

"Me either. And don't call Melissa just yet, we have lunch plans." Braeden said. "I told Rose that we'd meet her for lunch at the pizzeria up the street. Call Melissa after."

They walked up the street and got to the pizza place just as Rosalyn was pulling in the parking lot. They waited as she parked. The Beta practically skipped over to where Braeden and Erica stood and Erica felt the happiness radiated through their bond.

"Good news?" She asked as they walked inside and waited to be seated.

"Yes! There were no kindergarten openings but there was an opening in the preschool! They want me to come in for training and lesson planning next week! I got the job!" She said excitedly.

"I'm so happy for you babe." Braeden said hugging her girlfriend and kissing her cheek.

"Me too Rose." Erica said as the waitress came over to lead them to a table. "Not happy enough to kiss you though."

Rose laughed as they sat down. "We'll get there one day Alpha." She said with a wink and Erica couldn't help but laugh. They giddiness from her beta was infectious. "I'm sorry if this is affecting you…I'm just so happy. I have a mate, an alpha, a new town to call home, a great job…I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I've been on my own for so long, it's nice not to be."

Erica felt bad that her news might bring down her beta. From their talks Erica gathered that Rosalyn did not trust male alphas, and by the way Stiles, Jackson and Isaac acted toward her this morning, she probably had a negative view of the Hale Pack. Erica was worried about her beta and the Hale Pack getting along. She really wanted this conversation with Derek to go well and for their two packs to merge, but she also didn't want to put her beta in an uncomfortable situation.

"I'm happy you're happy Rose." Erica said with a smile, while trying to find a way to break the news. Part of her didn't want to say anything, just in case the conversation with Derek didn't go well, she didn't want to bring down Rose's good mood for nothing. But on the other hand, Erica was excited at the prospect of talking to her mate again and wanted to share her excitement with her beta and Braeden.

Rose narrowed her eyes at Erica. "You're holding something back…"

"Derek texted her." Braeden said. "She's probably unsure on how you would receive the news."

Erica kicked her friend under the booth. "Do you have mind reading powers now too you sneaky, all knowing, Druid?"

Braeden grinned. "No. Lydia texted me."

"And how did Lydia know?" Erica asked.

"I really don't know. But you are delusional if you think that Stiles and Isaac didn't initiate their little gossip phone tree after they found out."

Erica was about to retort when she smelt the anxiety and fear coming from her beta. "Rose, it will be fine. We're just talking, he won't hurt either of us."

Bray, obviously knowing a bit more about her partner's past than Erica did, pulled her into a hug in attempt to put an end to the woman's unease. "Rosalyn, Derek isn't like your father, and he isn't like the Jackson Alpha…he will never lay a violent finger on you, neither would his pack. If he did, Erica or myself would tear him apart." Braeden whispered to her mate.

Rosalyn nodded. "But what happens when you get back together, will he make you cast me out?"

"Derek Hale can't make me do anything I don't want to do my dear." Erica told her still shaking beta. "And I would never want to cast you out. I want us to merge into one pack. I want us all to be one big family. I want you to have pack-brothers and pack-sisters. Don't you want that? That feeling of family?"

Rosalyn nodded.

"There is family dinner tonight at _Wolf's Run_." Braeden said looking at Erica and Rose. "They usually have a party after, Dad never let me stay so I kind of wanted to tonight. I know we said we'd go see my aunt tonight, but we can go in the morning. I don't know if you two will be invited after Erica and Derek talk, but… would you two be angry with me if I go?" She asked.

"Of course not." Erica said.

"I wouldn't mind." Rosalyn said. "Alpha, if he does invite us to a meal…you won't leave my side will you?"

Erica sighed. "I promise you Rose, you will not be alone until you feel at ease okay?"

Rosalyn nodded, and they resumed the meal. They talked about Erica and Braeden's first day, Rosalyn's new job and planned the weekend of moving Rosalyn out of her apartment in San Francisco and a quick visit to Marin Morell.

After they were through, Braeden volunteered to show Rosalyn around town and Erica texted Stiles to come and get her for her check up with his mom.

* * *

She had been in the car for five minutes. They were still parked in front of the restaurant where she had lunch with Braeden and Rosalyn, and Erica had absolutely no clue why they were not moving. All she knew was she was at her wits end due to his antics. Since she got in the car there had been exactly forty audible sighs from her friend in the drivers seat.

"Oh my god Stiles! What?" She said losing her patience.

"You didn't bring me lunch." He sighed again.

Erica glared at the empty fast food containers at her feet; they were new and smelt of a burger and curly fries. "You ate already. Is that really what the dramatic sighing was about?"

"You didn't know I ate dearest Puppy." Stiles said. "And no, I was sighing because, while yes you still smell like our pack, you also smell like the home-wrecker."

Erica quickly grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the steering wheel. "I warned you not to take cheap shots at my beta." She said as he rubbed his face. "Oh, don't be a baby, you're a wolf. You'll heal."

"Have you been reading the 'Derek Hale book of making friends'? Because that situation gave me déjà vu." Stiles told her while shaking his head and starting the car.

She didn't say anything until he made a wrong turn. "We're supposed to be going to your parent's house Stiles."

"No can do. Mom said she needs certain equipment that we can only get at Beacon Hills Memorial or the new sick-bay at _Wolf's Run_. And since you'd feel awkward at _Wolf's Run_ until you talk with The King of the Sour-Wolves…"

Since the battle with the Thorne's, there had been many changes at _Wolf's Run._ Derek had four extra houses built for the growing pack bringing the grand total to eight (not including the Den). He also tore apart the Pool-House apartment and turned it into an infirmary, which along with the files belonging to the late Dr. Deaton, anyone could use to treat supernatural wounds or ailments. Melissa had found this helpful over the last few months (especially after Erica's miscarriage). Stiles and Danny made use of the medical library, they tended to compare and contrast human and werewolf physiology to their pre-med texts while studying. The construction had called for called for some rearranging of living arrangements, but there weren't many complaints.

"Stop calling it sick-bay Stiles. This isn't Star Trek." She said with a smile.

"Quit being such a kill joy Puppy." He laughed. "Oh, and FYI…recap of last night's pack meeting before…you know…the topic of you came up."

"Stiles, don't say anything that will get you in trouble…" Erica warned.

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Anyway, you know that doctor who has seen too much supernatural shit to ignore it anymore? The one who had been hounding mom and dad all summer?"

"Yep. Dr. Joesph. He's a tool."

"Well that tool now officially knows about werewolves as of this morning. Mom and Derek gave him the talk. They figured that it would be nice to have someone else in this town to have their eyes peeled." He told her in a tone that conveyed that he was just as against this decision as she was. "So, on the plus side, one less person that thinks we're in a cult. Yay."

"Why in the hell would he let Dr. Handsy in on our secret?" Erica said under her breath in surprise.

Stiles pulled over at this, giving her a glare. "Excuse you?"

"When I was sick… that's what I called him. He never did anything, but his hands liked to linger. He creeps me out."

Stiles' eyes flashed yellow and he whipped out his phone, beginning to furiously text. "Well, he was supposed to observe Mom giving you your check up today if you were okay with it. But guess what? Big brother Stiles isn't okay with it now. Call your Beta and your Braeden, we're going to _Wolf's Run."_

A small part of her wanted to say that he had no business ordering her around; she was the alpha. But the other part of her didn't give a shit about rank and did what she was told. He was her pack-brother and if he felt like he needed to protect her she would let him.

"Fine. But everyone is civil to Rosalyn. If Derek and I get back together she'll be your pack-sister like I am, and the girl already has issues with male wolves, so be nice." She growled at him.

Stiles paused from texting to give it some thought. "I suppose she didn't do anything wrong. I'll relay the message. Everyone will be on their best behavior." He said before continuing with his text. "I wish Derek picked up his phone for me, I could just tell him this shit…one butt-dial while Cora and I are having sex and he blocks my calls for life…its unprofessional." Stiles said under his breath as he pressed the send key before calling his mom and telling her the change of plans.

Erica smiled as she dialed her beta's number. "Hey, Rose? I'm sorry to do this to you, but we're going to _Wolf's Run_ now. I can't do my check up at the hospital, and it seems that my mate has been making bad decisions without me around, so I can't put this off… I will not leave you alone, neither will Bray, I promise. Now tell Bray what's going on and that I'll meet you both at the gates in ten…" Erica then looked out the rearview mirror where she noticed a black camaro had parked and its driver was making his way to her car door. "Okay, maybe you'll just meet Stiles there in ten, he promised to be nice." She said hanging up.

"Dear god. Was he following us around?" Stiles said noticing the man now opening his passenger side door. "Way to look normal Derek. You know if you're trying to repair a relationship, you don't stalk your significant other. Sends a bad message."

Derek simply glared at Stiles and held out his hand for her, still managing not to look her in the eye. Her heart felt like it was in her throat…had it really only been a day and a half since she last saw him?

"Be nice to Rosalyn, please." Erica said, taking Derek's hand and glaring back at Stiles. "Tell her and Bray I'll be there soon, and don't force them to go in the gates if they aren't ready."

Stiles rolled his eyes at her. "Your not my alpha currently so I really don't have to take orders from you if I don't want to... but you are significantly better looking than my alpha so I guess I'll listen. Just this once. You two kids have fun!" He said re-starting his car as she shut the door and walked with Derek towards the camaro.

* * *

They stood in front of the car for a moment. It was very uncomfortable. He was looking at her neck, which did not have her triskele on it, for the first time since he gave it to her. She had forgotten it this morning, in the rush to leave the room and prevent a fight between Jackson, Isaac Stiles and Rose, and now she felt bad. Had she hurt him again?

"Derek? Are we getting in the car? Or are we just going to stand here?" She asked.

The answer surprised her. He grabbed her into a hug and started petting her head and sobbed. She started sobbing too.

"I missed you so much." She told him through her tears.

Moments later came the first words Derek Hale had said to her in weeks. "I missed you too Erica. I love you."

"I love you too Der." She whispered to him. "I'm sorry for what I said, it was uncalled for. I was so angry, I wasn't even thinking."

He pulled back from the hug and looked her in her eyes. She was so happy she was finally speaking to her again she was afraid to say anything else and ruin the moment. So she waited for him to speak.

He did after a few long seconds. "I'm sorry for shutting you out and pushing you away. No matter how bad it gets between us, we should never shut each other out like that."

"We messed up Derek. And we let our pack suffer because of it." Erica sighed. "We let each other suffer because of it. We can't continue like this."

"I know." He said looking up and noticing the prying eyes on the streets observing them. He led her towards the car and they both didn't speak again until they were seated. They turned towards each other. "I need you in my life. I need you with me, at my side. I don't make good decisions knowing you are out there moving on with your life… I love you, and I don't want you to feel like I'm taking advantage of you… but I'm a better person, a better leader with you as my partner."

"No one can make me do anything I don't want to do Derek. I love you too, and I feel like I'm better around you as well." Erica smiled. "And really Derek, Dr. Joseph? That's the human you decided to let in on our secret?"

He looked down in shame. "He seemed trustworthy, and he basically knew already."

"Well, I hope this doesn't blow up in our faces…" She said. "So, how do we do this?"

"What? Forgive each other?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Well, let's table the original fight for now. I don't think we are both in a place that we can calmly talk through those issues without fighting." Erica nodded in agreement. "Right now we need to address your new beta, and ensure that you don't fracture off from the pack when we fight in the future… Bray tells me you couldn't translate our howls last night, meaning that you are well on your way to not being a Hale. We need to fix that, and we need Melissa to give you a clean bill of health."

"I'm not giving Rosalyn up Derek. I like her and she's Braeden's mate. She's had a hard life, I think our pack can be what she needs." Erica said.

"Braeden gave me the cliff notes on her last night. I wanted to accept her into the pack. Once you and I re-form our bond you will feel the connection with my betas again and I'll feel a connection with Rosalyn."

"Really you'll let her in the pack?" Erica said hopefully.

"Of course." Derek said. "Why do you smell worried?"

"Because, I'm worried about the pack not accepting her because I bit her, or her constantly being afraid of you and the boys."

"Unfortunately, there are many wolves like Rosalyn. Mistreated by their home packs or abandoned and orphaned as pups. Most, people like my father, are taken in by other packs, and live relatively normal lives. Some like Ethan and Aiden end up at a breaking point and end up killing their way out of a bad situation. And then there are the runners, like Rosalyn. We'll do our best to make her at ease Erica, but sometimes coddling her is worse, it makes her feel more on edge because she can sense the act."

Erica was grateful at his willingness to accept her beta into the Hale Pack but she was also confused. "I thought packs like the Thorne's rarely exist anymore? There are more wolves out there that hurt their own?" She said in shock, suddenly feeling the need to go on a rescue mission and save every mistreated wolf she could.

"Erica, there are good people and there are bad people, no matter what species they happen to be. The Thorne's were a special brand of bad. But yes, bad people lead some wolf packs. It's a fact of life. It's up to packs that do good to protect their home territory and offer help to anyone that has been mistreated."

"Packs like ours." Erica said.

"Like ours. That is if you want to merge packs. I understand if you want to go off and form a pack of your own."

"No, I want us to be one pack Derek. Yes, I feel the desire to give my bite to others, but I want those people to be ours." Erica admitted.

Derek gave her a smile and leaned forward and kissed her. She kissed back. It felt like the past few weeks were ancient history now that they were talking and she was getting kisses again. They could get through this. They would work on their relationship, and their pack and they would come out of this stupid fight stronger than they were when it started.

That was until a pained howl sounded. At that howl, all hopes for a good day of reuniting and joy were squashed.

They broke the kiss and Derek's eyes flashed red. "I don't know who that was."

Erica felt her face change. Because she was able to translate the howl that simply said: _Under attack. Help me Alpha._

"Drive me to the preserve Derek. Someone attacked my beta."

* * *

**AN: hope you enjoyed! See you in a few days for chapter 4!**

**Check out my writing tumblr (**hailhaleswriting**) Or visit **allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf ** for bonus info and updates. **


	4. Four

**AN: So this chapter has a LOT of info in it, that will either be relevant in the immediate future or not be a big deal for a few chapters, and it makes me wonder…Do you all want be to bring back the "Previously On…" section that I had during Teen She-Wolf? Let me know you preference and your thoughts on all the stuff going on in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

**Also this is wayy shorter than I wanted it to be, so expect chapter five sometime this weekend.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine**

* * *

**Alpha She-Wolf**

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Erica was growling when Derek's phone rang. She could feel her beta's pain. Rosalyn was severely injured and needed her alpha by her side. Derek wasn't driving fast enough for her tastes. She was tempted to grab the wheel from him.

Derek picked up the phone and put it on speaker. "What?" he said.

"_Erica's beta was attacked in the woods a few miles outside the property. Shot five times with wolfsbane bullets. Melissa and Braeden are treating her in the infirmary now."_

"Who attacked her?" Erica growled, examining her link with Rose. The beta was weak and unconscious, but she would live. Erica hackles rose even though her beta was safe because she felt intense pain and worry from Rosalyn through the bond.

"_Malia and the guys are tracking the scents now. There were five human scents; definitely hunters but we lost them. They probably got into a car. The other four scents were wolf. Everyone but the twins and I are out looking for those wolves…. which brings me to my next thing. Rosalyn wouldn't let any of the wolves touch her until she saw Ethan and Aiden."_

Erica was puzzled. The twins were great, but that made no sense. They were not the least threatening looking of the Hale Pack, especially with their blue eyes in wolf form. But then Erica gave it some thought, thinking about the history of her two friends and her new beta. "Which pack adopted Ethan and Aiden when they were pups? The one that treated them horribly enough for Deucalion to talk the boys into killing them all?" Erica asked Derek.

"The Jackson Pack in Los Angeles. The twins met Deucalion when they were seventeen." Derek said. "Why?"

"Because Braeden and Rosalyn were talking earlier today, Rose was nervous about meeting you and the pack. Bray said that you were nothing like the Jackson Alpha. Rose lived in LA until about a year ago. How much you want to bet she knew the twins before they went all Dark Side with the Alpha Pack?"

"_Well, its good that she trusts them then, because she wouldn't let anyone else near her besides them, Melissa and Braeden. She keeps insisting that she's not safe and neither are the pups, and keeps yelling for you to save them. She won't let Melissa near enough to get a scan and check on her babies."_

"What pups? Rosalyn isn't pregnant."

"_She kept on insisting that the pups are in danger. Bray had to knock her out because she wouldn't calm down."_

Erica felt intense worry for her beta, was Rosalyn losing her mind? As Derek told his sister that they would be there soon and turned the car around to go towards _Wolf's Run_, Erica looked at him pleadingly. "Derek, please get us to her fast, I need to be near her."

Her mate nodded. "Just a few more minutes, and we'll be there." After a moment of quiet worry, he took his free hand and grabbed hers for comfort before he spoke again. "Erica, if there are hunters and another pack in town…"

Erica finished his thought for him, because he seemed hesitant to, probably worried about forcing her into a situation that she was not ready for. God, did she hate herself for bringing up his relationship with the Argent bitch. He may forgive her, but her words were obviously still affecting him. "It's dangerous for any of us to live outside of _Wolf's Run_…I know." She said squeezing his hand. "I didn't really want the whole dorm experience anyway, I just didn't want to live at our home when you weren't speaking to me." She sighed. "Braeden, she might take some convincing. So will Melissa and the Sheriff. Rose will go where Bray and I go."

"Braeden will move into the house I had built for her and she'll like it." He growled, using his alpha voice, and sounding very … Hale –like. "She's not just my Emissary, she's practically family. As for John and Melissa, I think that their sons have had success in convincing them to move to _Wolf's Run_ eventually, at least part time."

Erica nodded and sighed, anxious about the state of her beta, and about how everything seemed to be happening all at once. "Derek this is fucked up. We are fighting, our pack is fractured, my beta is injured and has probably lost her mind, there are hunters in town and a new pack of wolves on our territory…have I missed anything?"

"Beside Alison wanting the bite and the fact that her parents have decided to move back? No." He said dryly. At her shocked expression he added, "Oh yeah, apparently her and her mates have been discussing it for awhile and choose yesterday to talk to me about it. So there's that."

"What? Is this one of your sick jokes?" She glared at him, when he shook his head, indicating it was not a joke she said. "Why is this all happening at once?"

"My Mom used to say that Mother Moon likes to test her children, and that these tests prove to her that we are worthy of the gift she gave us. That we would always use it to help others, and value pack and family above all other things." Derek said as he pulled up to the gated of _Wolf's Run_ and punched in the security code. "Perhaps she thought that our pack needed a reminder that we are better together."

"I don't think our pack lost sight of that Derek." Erica said as her mate drove down the long drive, and she was filled with a sense of comfort. Being back at _Wolf's Run_ made her insides feel content, like she had not been home in years ands she was finally safe. "I think we did. We lost sight of what was important just because we disagreed and now…now it's up to us to fix it while dealing with all these new crisis's at once."

Derek was silent the rest of the drive, and did not speak again until he parked in front of the pool-house, which held the infirmary. "We can do this, deal with this all one thing at a time, and do it together. Who knows, maybe we can fix what is wrong with us while we keep our pack safe…" He said hopefully as the exited the car and he held out his hand for her. "First things first, let's go check on your beta."

She grabbed his hand and they walked towards the pool-house and up the stairs to the infirmary.

* * *

The sight was as she expected. Melissa and Braeden were fussing over a bed that held an unconscious Rosalyn. The Twins stood off to the side, worried expressions on their faces. Peter, John, Cora and Allison were at the other side of the room, examining bloody bullets and shell casings, comparing them with books about wolfsbane that Sarah and Lydia were poring over.

"Where's Kira?" Erica asked, alerting everyone to her presence.

"Running around the woods with Malia and the boys. In case they run into hunters again, having someone who is not affected by tasers is helpful." Cora said, looking at Derek and Erica's joined hands.

"That's all anyone had to do to get you two speaking? Get shot?" Lydia said, before her mother elbowed her in the ribs.

Erica ignored her and let go of Derek's hand, rushing to Rose's bedside taking note of the blood pouring from her wounds. "Why isn't she healing Bray?" Erica growled.

Braeden looked near tears, Erica hand nearly forgotten that human (or in this case Druid) mates could feel when their mates were in peril almost as well as wolf mates could. "It's a combination of things. First the strands of wolfsbane in the bullets, they were the nastiest I've seen I was able to draw it out before it killed her, but… she doesn't have enough strength."

"She is a wolf, she can heal. The pack link will help her." Erica said, missing her friends point.

"Blondie…"Ethan said, and Erica turn her attention to him. He and Aiden had unshed tears in their eyes and looked like a pack member just died. It made her think that they knew Rosalyn well five years ago when she ran with their pack, but her curiosity would have to wait. "Her pack link is just you. It's not enough to keep her from dying."

Erica felt herself start to shift in anger. What kind of alpha wasn't strong enough to keep a their beta alive? She felt like an absolute failure.

"Derek. We need to merge packs. Now." She said shaking in anger, before turning to Braeden. "That would be enough strength to heal her right? The power of two alphas, eleven betas, three humans, two banshees, a kitsune and a druid will be enough?"

Braeden nodded. "More than enough. You have to swear fealty to each other and bite each other, like you were taking on a new beta."

She turned to Derek. "Please?"

He nodded. "I, Alpha Derek Hale, swear fealty to you, Alpha Erica Reyes. I promise to rule our untied pack as one pair, as mates, as partners in all things."

She stepped forward to him and grabbed his hand. "I, Alpha Erica Reyes, swear fealty to you, Alpha Derek Hale. I promise to rule our untied pack as one pair, as mates, as partners in all things."

They both shifted once she finished speaking and attacked each other's necks. Derek bit her in almost the same spot where her turning bite was, so Erica went for a similar place on the left side of his throat.

As soon as they both had broken flesh she felt the pack links with the Hales grow stronger once more and this time the link she had with Rosalyn was there, as if it had been there all along, intermingled with all the other links. Her beta was now Derek's beta, and Derek's betas were her betas. The feeling was so exhilarating she nearly fainted.

She felt powerful again. Not that she had ever been weak, but an alpha with no strong connection with a pack was not as powerful as they could be. Now she had her own beta, she'd never be lonely again but she also had the Hale Pack again. She never wanted to lose the safety and security that being linked to these amazing beings gave her.

She shifted back to human and pulled back from Derek's neck, as he did the same. Melissa was there with rubbing alcohol and gauze, cleaning the wounds before they healed.

"Mel, you do know that they will heal just fine on their own." John said, laughter in his voice.

Melissa huffed as she finished her quick clean just as the bites healed. "These kids bleed too much. I know wolves can't get seriously ill but with this pack's luck a simple nip like these causes an infection that herbs can't cure.," she said walking back over to Rosalyn's bedside.

Erica followed. "How is she now?"

Melissa lifted up the bed sheet, examining Rose's wounds as Bray placed a kiss to Rose's forehead.

"Her heartbeat is stronger." Aiden said, his voice hopeful.

Erica let out sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." She said before turning to Peter and the others that had been conducting research. "What do we know about her attackers? And why in the hell was she running around the woods by herself?"

"She was nervous. She didn't feel ready to meet the pack, was afraid of how they would treat her." Braeden said. "I kept telling her that no one would hurt and everyone was nice, just to give them a chance. Once Stiles pulled up and invited us in the gate, she decided to go for a run to calm down, she didn't want to come in without you. She was only gone a few minutes before the pack started hearing gunshots, and she howled."

Cora then took over. "We knew the only wolf unaccounted for was your beta, and while most of us weren't happy you began your own pack, we love you and if you care about someone we care. So everyone who could run quickly ran to the rescue. By that time the hunters were gone and so were the other wolves."

"The bullets are a rare mix of wolfsbane." Allison said, anger and anxiety seeping into her voice. "A mixture used by all Argent trained hunters."

Erica narrowed her eyes. "Your parents are in the business of hurting wolves that have committed no crimes?" she asked.

"They weren't my parents. My parents and their men are in Nevada, hunting some sort of were-cat serial killer. They have made noise about settling down here once they are done with that hunt." Allison told them. "Which brings up a whole slew of problems for me and the pack, but we can talk about that and about my request later. Right now, there are some distant cousins of mine in town that are shooting first and asking questions later."

"And four wolves running around on our territory… and based on Kira's last text, one is injured." Cora said.

Derek sighed. "This is what we get for having six months of peace-time… Do we have any indication if these wolves are friendly or hostile?"

"No, just that there are three males and a female. And one of the male's is injured." Cora said. "Everyone is on high alert, just in case they are a threat."

At Cora's words Rosalyn sat up abruptly in the bed. "Alpha! The puppies! We have to save the puppies! They are not safe!"

Erica rushed to her betas beside. "Rose, you are safe. We are among pack. I merged packs with Derek. Do you not feel safe here?"

Rose looked desperate, "Alpha, I'm safe. I feel safe. My Wonder Twins are here and these other people smell like pack. But the puppies are not safe! The hunters are trying to kill the puppies!"

Erica had no ungodly clue what Rose was saying, and looked desperately to Derek.

Aiden spoke. "Rosie, there are no puppies. No one is pregnant in the pack. The pack is safe. The hunters are gone."

"None of you understand." Rose screamed in frustration. "There are four pups in the woods. They were running from hunters. I distracted the hunters and got shot so the pups could run to safety. I told them to run here…but they didn't did they?"

"No babe," Braeden said. "The pack only found you, and can't seem to find the four wolves that were with you."

Erica's heart stopped. The Argent hunters were after children? There were injured frightened children running around the woods? She felt extremely murderous imagining what the hunters had done to the pack these children were from and how scared the poor pups must be.

"They are born wolves!" Rose said, in hysterics. "They must have masked their scents as they ran…I may have told them there were two packs in this area…oh no, what if we can't find them and that little boy dies!"

"Not on my watch." Derek growled. "Erica, come with me. Rosalyn smells like you. If these kids get a whiff of you they might be inclined to come out of hiding."

Erica nodded and she and Derek began to leave the room. She heard the rustling of bed sheets and Braeden and Melissa's cries of 'No.' and halted in the doorway, sending a glare to her beta. "You stay here Rosalyn. We will find the pups, you need to heal. Aiden, Ethan, please make sure she stays in that bed." Erica said before she and Derek resumed their exit.

Once outside again they ran as one out the back gate and howled.

_They are children._ She and Derek howled together. _We are on our way._

"Now if I were a scared wolf-pup, where would I hide from hunters and other packs?" She asked Derek.

He looked thoughtful a moment before looking to her. "I know of a few places, but by the time we search them all it with be too late." He said pulling her hair from the hair tie. "Take off that jacket too, we want them to catch your scent and come to us. So we are going to run around for a bit and hope that we either catch their trail or they scent you."

Erica nodded and took off her jacket, throwing it by the gate. "Okay Der, let's go for a run."

At that the Alpha-pair of the Hale Pack began running off towards the boundaries of the preserve.

* * *

**AN: So idk if I love this chapter. I like this chapter, I just feel like everything is going a little too fast. I promise to slow it down a bit (probably after chapter 5) and have a nice pack-bonding chapter before I throw more situations at the pack. **

**Check out my writing tumblr (**hailhaleswriting**) Or visit **allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf ** for bonus info and updates. **


	5. Five

**AN: Sorry for the mega-wait! First came writers block, them came computer trouble, them came tearing my hair out because I couldn't update! But all fixed now.**

**Thanks to everyone that's reading, reviewing and following the story! You are the best!**

**So, according to my outline, this story will be 12-15 chapters long (probably closer to 12). Hope you like this one better than the last. The second half of this chapter and the first half of the next involve fluffy pack times…the M rating is going to kick back in at the end of chapter 6/beginning of 7 just as an FYI. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine**

* * *

**Alpha She-Wolf**

**Chapter Five**

* * *

After a few minutes of running, she heard it, a tiny whimper coming from a small cavern in the earth. She grabbed Derek, to stop him from running further.

_Found them. I need Scott and Malia. Too many of us will scare them. _He howled as she stepped toward the cavern.

"Little ones? My name is Erica. My friend Rose sent me to find you." She said in her softest, non-threatening voice.

"I think we is safe now, Raul. Blonde-lady smells like the lady who saved us from the bad people." A tiny female voice whispered from the cavern.

"Be quiet." An older voice whispered back. "She is an alpha, and she's with an alpha, they both smell like the pack that was just chasing us."

"They weren't chasing you." Derek said from behind her. "We were looking for you. We want to help."

Erica nodded. "We hear one of you is injured, and you all must be tired and hungry. We want to help you and keep you safe from the hunters."

"Told you!" The little female squeaked out, running from the cavern, and straight for Erica. The poor thing was covered in dirt and mud, had bloodstains on her torn clothing, and leafs and twigs sticking out of her curly dark red hair, but still managed to smile as she ran towards Erica. Erica smelt the relief rolling off the tiny she-wolf.

_These pups have been on the run for awhile. _Her inner wolf concluded. _Our pack will keep them safe._

Erica caught the tiny body as she leapt into her arms. "We is safe now. I'm Juliet. I'm five." The little girl said cuddling into Erica. "Connor! Diego! Raul! Come out! We is safe!"

At Juliet's urging the three boys filed out of the cave. First came a tiny boy, with brown hair, tears running down his face. He was covered in blood and dirt, and from what Erica could smell, some of the blood was his own. Two much older boys followed behind him, keeping him upright. They looked to be in similar states but were not currently injured as far as Erica could tell, but they all looked exhausted and like they were not going to make the journey to _Wolf's Run_.

"That's my baby brother Conner." Juliet informed, as Erica set her down to approach the boy. "And our friends Raul and Diego. They is brothers. Our mommies were best friends. That makes the four of us pack."

Malia and Scott arrived on the scene in time to see the boys exit. Derek and Scott tried to approach the boys, but the older two growled and backed up.

"Juliet? Could you go with my friend Scott? My other friends Derek and Malia need to help me get your pack to our home."

Juliet looked thoughtful. "He's nice right?"

Erica nodded her head. "Yes, he is nice."

Juliet nodded and ran toward Scott who picked her up with ease.

Erica slowly approached the three boys, and knelt down to examine Connor. Deigo and Raul let out soft warning growls at her but she ignored them while she gently examined the whimpering boy. A wolfsbane bullet grazed him. It wasn't healing and the poison was taking longer to reach his heart and kill him because only a little of it got into his system. She needed to get him to Braeden and Melissa fast.

"Your very hurt Connor, I'm going to have my friend Malia carry you to our home okay? She is a very fast runner and is going to take you to get healed okay?" Erica said looking in to the tear-filled brown eyes.

The boy whimpered in response, but the oldest boy responded. "As long as one of us is near him he will be fine. Connor hasn't spoken much since our moms died."

Erica nodded and waived Malia over. Her friend picked up the tiny boy with care and began running towards Wolf's Run, Scott followed behind her.

"You are going to kill us now right?" The oldest boy asked. "Julie and Connor are little and will obey easier, my brother and I are too old for you to take in."

Erica narrowed her eyes. "I don't make a habit of killing children. Neither does my mate. Right Derek?"

She felt him approach and watched as the two boys in front of her held their ground even though she could smell their fear. She didn't blame them for being afraid. Lord knows how long they had been on the run from hunters and now they were in front of two alphas.

"We are not going to kill you." Derek said as he kneeled next to her. "We intend to help. And you are never to old to integrate into a new pack…Wolves change packs all the time."

The two boys narrowed their eyes at Derek, then at Erica, most likely trying to get a sense of if they were lying. After a minute or so of silence, the boys nodded.

"I assume you are exhausted. Would you mind if we carried you two back to our home?" Erica asked.

The younger boy jumped into Erica's arms. "We've been running for a long time." He told her. "Raul, let the man carry you, you haven't slept in days."

Erica stood up, with the boy in her arms as Raul glared at his brother, before huffing and walking closer to Derek. "You can carry me, but I'm not going to like it. Only babies get carried."

Derek chuckled and picked the child up. When he stood up he looked to her. "Ready?" He said while making sure he had a firm grip on Raul.

"Ready." She said adjusting Diego slightly.

With that they ran home.

* * *

By the time Erica and Derek arrived back at the infirmary, Melissa and Braeden were both working on healing the wounded, unconscious Connor and Juliet seemed determined not to ever let go of Scott.

"Why should I let you go Silly? You will protect me." The little girl insisted as Erica and Derek set Diego and Raul down on the bed next to Connor's.

Erica then took a moment to notice of who was present in the room. Rosalyn was sound asleep in her bed, and the twins had pulled up chairs to her bedside. Sarah was trying to coax the Juliet off of Scott's shoulders so she could help the girl clean up and see if she was injured. John and Peter had begun a similar routine with the boys she and Derek just brought in, Raul seemed skeptical of the situation but he and his brother cooperated.

"Where is the rest of the pack?" She asked.

"And how are our injured?" Derek asked immediately after her.

"Kira, Malia and Lydia went to the store to get a start on a wardrobe for the pups; Allison and Cora are securing the back gate, they should be back soon; and the boys went to start dinner, they said that they'd transport everything up here when they were done so we could eat and talk as a pack." Melissa said, not looking up from her work on Connor. "Rosalyn needs another hour or two of rest before she can move around, and as for our littlest patient, he will be fine once Ms. Deaton finishes drawing the poison out."

This got Peter talking; while he and John were finishing examining the older boys. "These two seem to be fine. Underfed, in need of sleep, and frightened but there seem to be no open wounds…"

"We'll get them into a bath once the girls come back with clothing…" John reported, confirming what Peter had said.

"I'd love to tell you how this one is doing," Sarah sighed giving up on pulling Juliet off of Scott. "But she seems to have taken a liking to Scott."

"He's going to be my big brother. Of course I like him Aunt Sarah!" Juliet then quickly covered her mouth. "Uh-Oh." She whispered behind her hands.

The room seemed to pause at her comment, and the little she-wolf took that opportunity to climb off of Scott and onto the bed meant for her. Sarah began to examine her for injuries while the room stayed quiet.

Erica turned to the older boys. Diego held his head in his hands and let out a sigh of exhaustion, and Raul was glaring at the little she-wolf. "Care to share what she is talking about boys?"

"Juliet and Connor's mom was a Seer…that's how we were able to escape the hunters, she knew where to hide us. When she died, Juliet started to see things." Raul said. "She's not very good at it, because her dad was human and she is so little, but she can some things. Most of the time she can't distinguish between something that has happened and a vision."

"I saw her save us." Juliet said pointing to a sleeping Rosalyn. "That was my first ever vision after mommy and auntie died. Are you mad Alpha? Are you going to hurt us because of my visions? Mommy said that bad people hurt us because of the family gift."

Erica looked to Derek and they both told the child in unison. "You are safe here."

"Can we join your pack?" Diego asked hesitantly. His brother hit him lightly in his arm, as if the question offended him. Erica looked over Raul. It seemed like the small boy had been a stand-in Alpha for their little group since their mothers died.

"If you want too, of course you can." Derek told the boy.

Juliet and Diego sent hopeful looks to Raul, as if seeking the older boys approval. "Fine." Raul said, "But the female-Alpha claims us," he was then tackled by his giggling brother.

"Why me?" Erica whispered, not loving the idea of biting children.

"He said it was just them and their moms," Derek told her, "He has probably never met an adult male wolf before, he's more likely to trust you…You did say you needed your own Betas, biting these kids will stabilize you, and make it easier for the pack to accept Rosalyn's entry."

Erica didn't love the idea of biting children, but understood their preference of her as an alpha as opposed to Derek. When she first met Derek he sort of terrified her, he was an intimidating presence, she was used to it now but could see why these children would be so uneasy about it. "Fine." She agreed, "I'll claim them."

Juliet clapped. "Bite Connor first!" She said. "It will help him heal!"

"I can't yet." Erica told the girl. "He has to swear fealty to me…" she paused to look at the wolves in the room. "Doesn't he? How do I go about making a child part of my pack?"

Derek looked just as confused as she was, having never needed to know about how children were inducted into new wolf packs so they looked to Peter.

"Typically, if there is a parent around, the parent gives their permission and you bite the child. If there is no parent you can simply bite the child. There is no oath needed from either party." Peter said.

"That's where the trouble comes from." Ethan said from across the room, his voice rough. "An alpha can bind a child to the pack, and the child has no choice. That's how Aiden and I were bound to our old pack."

"But we are not like that pack." Derek told them. "We will treat these pups right."

"We know…"Aiden said in a solemn tone. "Seeing Rosie again is just bringing up things Ethan and I would rather forget."

Erica nodded in understanding. There was a story there, probably a story that would make her very upset. The twins tone caused Melissa to startle and rush to their sides trying to comfort the boys and Erica was reminded of a conversation she had months ago with Melissa. How this pack was filled with people that were neglected, orphaned, abused, bullied or experienced great loss. Now they had all found each other and were a family. Rosalyn and these pups would fit right in.

So she walked over to the sleeping Connor and bit his wrist as gently as she could. Braeden immediately cleaned the wound, and Erica could feel the link forming as he little boy got stronger, using his new pack link to help heal.

Juliet then hopped onto the foot of Connor's bed and held out her wrist with a smile. "Me next!" She squeaked.

Erica smiled, and bit the tiny wrist just as carefully as she bit Connor's. Juliet grabbed the peroxide soaked towel from Braeden's hands and cleaned her own wound.

Erica took a deep breath as the link with Juliet formed, right next to her brothers. They were young children so it wasn't like the rush of power she experienced when she bit Rosalyn, but she still felt a bit drunk. She understood how alphas could get crazed with power; because adding to her pack was better than any high she could imagine a drug giving her.

She felt Derek grab her hand. He felt it too, and was trying to anchor her. "I'm fine," she mumbled opening her eyes and turning to the boys on the next bed over. Diego was holding out his wrist with a tentative smile and Raul was sitting with his arms crossed watching her warily.

She repeated the process with Diego, and paused as John was cleaning the boy's wrist. Diego was excited to be her beta, but worried. The worry was concerning his big brother. Raul was glaring at her, and the concern and fear was coming off him in waves. This boy was not comfortable being bitten, but did not want to be separated from his brother and their friends.

"Raul, I wont bite you if you don't want me to." She said, and Diego began to protest before she spoke again. "I will not separate you from your brother, and I will protect you as long as you want me too, even if you don't want to be in my pack."

Those words calmed down Diego and the fear/concern she smelt from Raul ceased. "I can stay, even if you don't bite me?" He asked. "You wont make me leave or throw me to the hunters?"

"Of course not." Erica said in alarm. "What have I done to make you think I would do that?"

"You are an alpha." Raul said matter-of-factly. "Mom said alphas are ruthless killers that only care about power. That's why she was a lone wolf."

"Well not this pack." Derek said, sensing her inability to form words. "Our pack is our family and we care about protecting our family."

Raul looked thoughtful, and glared at Derek as if he were sizing him up. "I want a family too." Raul said after a moment, his voice losing its venom, finally sounding like a child rather than an adult in a child's body. "Alpha Erica, Can I be apart of your pack…your family?" He said holding out his wrist.

Erica smiled and nodded, before biting his wrist.

* * *

Erica passed out from the power-rush after biting Raul. Adding five betas to your pack in less than twenty-four hours is not something she wanted to have to do again. The power high was great but the crash was not. When she woke she was alone.

She sat up quickly, the infirmary was empty and she heard laughter and growls outside. So she quickly descended the stairs and made her way to the field behind the pool-house that the pack used for training.

The scene she found when she arrived surprised her. The picnic tables that the used to sit on were pulled together to form one large table, similar in size to the dining room table and was covered in a few disposable tablecloths. And everyone was beginning to sit down around it and dig into the meal that had been brought outside.

All five of her betas looked like they had recovered from their injuries, were freshly cleaned and changed and were smiling. Rosalyn sat across from the twins and Danny and in between Lydia and Braeden, and she did not look the least bit uncomfortable. Juliet was sitting with Connor between Melissa and John, tt seemed like while shopping for clothing for them someone had the though to get the kids booster seats because Juliet was sitting tall in hers and Connor was wigging out of his climbing onto John's lap. Raul had a wicked smile on his face as Malia chastised him for him mocking Juliet since he and Diego didn't need baby-seats to reach the table. Diego was rolling his eyes and grinning as he cuddled up next to Sarah while she helped fix him a plate.

Everyone was smiling and telling stories as they passed around plates and trays of food. She had missed this, this feeling of completeness, of pack. She had missed everyone's laugh, their joy, the teasing, and the feeling of family that they lost when she and Derek messed everything up. This felt right. She was glad that the pack was back together again.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a roll making contact with her forehead. She heard snorts and the laughter increased.

"Who did that?" She said with a grin glaring at Stiles and Isaac, who were most likely to have done such a thing.

"Hey, Don't look at us." Isaac said with a grin. "We don't waste food like that."

She then looked to Derek.

"It wasn't me." He laughed, waving her over and patting the empty space between himself and Boyd.

She made her way over and sat, beginning to fix her own plate as the conversations all resumed. About an hour later, she had given up on finding out who threw the roll at her and was content to listen to the conversation around her, when she noticed Boyd making a grab for the breadbasket, giving her the side-eye with a uncharacteristically large grin on his face.

"You jerk." She growled at him. "You threw the roll at me."

Boyd's grin turned into a full-blown smile. "You have no proof of this Reyes." He said taking a bite out of his new roll. "If no one saw it, it didn't happen."

"Is that what they teach in your pre-law classes?" She asked, "Because if so, that professor should be fired for lazy teaching. I will have my revenge Vernon Boyd."

Boyd rolled his eyes at her and continued eating. Apparently her threat wasn't that threatening to him.

Across the table, Stiles was having an emotional crisis as he glared down towards the end the tables where Rosalyn sat. "Do we do five separate puppy piles? Or one?" He whispered fiercely so her betas could not hear, the meal was winding down, so most everyone was talking at this point rather than eating and talking. "You have no idea the dilemma you have created puppy-Alpha! We have traditions to uphold! How are we going to surprise them with five separate puppy piles? Will we hurt the tiny ones if we all do a puppy pile? Will they not feel special enough if we welcome all five of them at once?" He sighed dramatically.

"How about you all surprise Rose first and then if the kids want to join in they will?" She suggested. "I'll throw them on top so they don't get hurt."

He gave her a thoughtful look. "Okay, that sounds good, especially since I was kind of a jerk to Rose earlier." He said before narrowing his eyes at her, "Just remember, you're a lame alpha now. You can't join in. You have to be the no fun police and pull us off."

Erica pouted a bit at this. She loved puppy piles.

Boyd patted her back. "Don't worry Reyes, you just aren't allowed in on this particular puppy pile. It's about beta bonding."

"Fine. Better do it soon, before it gets dark. We still have to clean up this mess and the sun is already going down." Erica said. "Is everyone done?" She asked in her normal voice so everyone with supernatural hearing could hear.

The table started to quiet down and she stood up. "Is everyone done?" She asked and everyone nodded. "Good, because there is a tradition for new betas of the Hale pack that I want to get over with soon so we can clean up this mess before it gets dark."

Rosalyn and the puppies looked nervous, but every other wolf at the table looked excited.

"Juliet, Connor, Raul and Diego can sit out if they want to." Stiles said standing up and poking Cora until she got up too. "We've never welcomed a kid before so we don't want to accidently hurt you."

Rose looked nervous as all the wolves began to stand. "They aren't going to hurt you Rosalyn. I promise, no one in this pack will harm anyone." Erica said moving back from the table and waving Rosalyn over.

Once her beta was by her side, and they were a safe distance from the table, Stiles and Cora yelled "Puppy Pile!" in unison. All the adult wolves (besides Peter, Derek and Herself) tackled Rosalyn, and in seconds Rosalyn's laugher filled the air.

"You aren't going to joining them Peter?" Sarah asked standing up, piling empty plates on each other like the other non-wolves were. Erica noted Allison was still sitting and watching the pile with a wistful look on her face.

He shook his head and began to stack dishes too. "No, I feel to old to join in." He said and looked down at the two boys he sat next to during the meal. "You kids should join in."

Diego, like Juliet and Connor, was bouncing up and down with desire to join in, But Raul looked skeptical. "No, if you aren't going to play, I wont."

"Great, we have a mini-Peter on our hands." Lydia said. "I'd be afraid if it wasn't so adorable."

Erica snorted at this and repressed a "aw" at the admiration towards Peter she felt from Raul, as she felt a tiny pull on he pant leg.

Connor, Juliet and Diego were lined up next to her, and Connor simply pointed toward the mass of giggling betas as Diego said. "Can we join?"

Derek scooped up Diego and Juliet and walked them towards the pile, placing them on top. Before stepping back to supervise. Erica picked Connor and walked him over and placed him on top with his sister and Diego. In moments their giggles and tiny growls joined in.

"Raul." She said, catching the young boy look at the puppy pile in envy. "Derek and I will break this up soon, so you should join in now before it's over."

The boy looked up to Peter, who simply rolled his eyes and scooped the kid up and deposited onto the pile. "Children." Peter said in an exasperated, yet fond tone.

She and Derek let the fun go on a minute longer before they began to pull betas off Rosalyn and telling them to help the non-wolves clean up. They saved pulling off the kids until last, and Erica helped Rosalyn up.

Erica held Derek's hand and watched silently as her pack made its way inside. They were laughing and bickering like they usually did. Some of the argument was about whose turn it was to do the dishes (Malia and Kira were trying to get out of kitchen duty), others was what activity was the best after dinner activity (a pack meeting or watching The Avengers) and another was on whether Friday was supposed to be a game night, a movie night or a dance party night.

Her betas seemed to have integrated into her pack seamlessly and Erica couldn't have been happier. Connor and Juliet had each clung onto John's legs and the Sheriff tried moving with them on for a few steps before Melissa picked up Juliet, ending the game. Connor pouted until John picked him up and made his way towards the house. Raul and Diego were arguing with Lydia, trying to get her to let him help carry something. Peter growled and simply picked up the two boys and threw them over each shoulder, ending any argument. Rosalyn was being carried in piggy-back style by Danny as the male wolf quizzed her about what his mate was like when he was younger.

"Erica?" Derek asked, bringing her out of her trance. "Whats wrong?"

She smiled up at him. "Absolutely Nothing. Everything feels right again."

"Well there's plenty wrong. That Doctor, The hunters, The Argents moving back, whose going to adopt those kids, how we are going to explain those kids, moving everyone back here before Monday and Allison wanting the bite…" Her mate rambled off before her kiss shut him up.

"Shh, SourWolf. Save it for the meeting we are having soon." She said, "Besides all that, how do you feel?"

"Content." He said with a sigh. "You are back, our pack is healthy, we have new betas… everything feels right."

"Exactly." She grinned at him. "Now would you mind carrying me in my love?"

"Why? Are you still feeling tried?" He asked with concern.

Erica shook her head. "No. Just want you to hold me."

Derek groaned. "Erica…"

"Derek…" She mimicked.

"Fine." He said in defeat.

"I love you." He whispered in her ear, once he picked her up. The jerk knew how ear-whispers affected her! Now she had to sit through a pack meeting aroused!

"I love you too, you jerk."

They both laughed as he walked them into the house.

* * *

**AN: Thoughts? Questions? Constructive Criticism? Leave a review below or and ask on my tumblr.**

**Check out my writing tumblr (**hailhaleswriting**) Or visit **allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf ** for bonus info and updates on this fic and others. **


	6. Six

**AN: Sorry for the delay. I wont make excuses; let's just get right to it.**

**In this chapter I do something weird… I change POV. I don't plan on doing this often but in order to keep the story moving while the pack bonds and moves everyone to Wolf's Run I think it was necessary. This POV gives you the first glimpse of the 'Bad Guy/s' of this tale.**

**News: instead of 12-15 chapters, I think this tale might be closer to 15-18 chapters. So yay for that?**

**I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine**

* * *

**Alpha She-Wolf**

**Chapter Six**

* * *

As most of the pack was cleaning up from dinner (even though most of them weren't on the schedule for tonight) Allison and Derek caught Erica up on what happened during the time she was asleep. Apparently she had been out for nearly three hours, in that time Melissa gave her a clean bill of health, Connor and Rose healed and began interacting with the pack, and Lydia, Kira and Malia came back with and SUV filled with clothes and toys for the pups. Raul's demeanor became less wary once he felt the pack bond and he and all the kids didn't put up much of a fuss at being bathed and put in new clothes.

"Lydia has plans on going all out in decorating their rooms." Allison warned, "She has already begun drawing up plans and has consulted each pup on what they like the best. Except Connor, he still won't talk. As soon as we find out who is adopting the kids, you can expect a large dent in the pack expense account to be made."

"I think they have already chosen their adoptive families by themselves." Derek rolled his eyes. "As for Lydia, she doesn't have access to the pack expense account without my say so. So she can forget about an over the top shopping spree."

"Lydia doesn't have access but Malia does." Erica reminded him.

At this Derek let out a groan. Malia was not a 'girly-girl' and disliked shopping, but she was Peter's child, and inherited her father's love of annoying Derek at all costs. If an over the top shopping spree with her step-sister caused Derek a headache, then Malia would participate.

"What do you mean they have already picked their adoptive families?" Allison asked after a moment.

"Pups are more instinctual, especially if they are orphaned and have been through trauma." Derek explained, "They are able to sense the most powerful and compatible couples in a new pack and instinctually chose which pair would be the best protectors and parents for them. The alpha-pair or pack elders, as they are typically the strongest and most stable mate-bonds in a pack, get the option to take the pups in before any other mated pairs, but if the pups don't find them compatible they wont take them in."

Erica thought over what she had observed during dinner. "Our Elders are John, Melissa, Peter and Sarah…and the pups seemed to have gravitated towards them. Do you think they sense the bond too? Or that Melissa and John know what this means?"

"I explained the possibility of this happening to Sarah, John and Mel earlier when the pups took a nap after their bite." Peter said waltzing into the room followed by Melissa. Melissa carried a half-asleep Connor with in her arms and was smiling. They both sat down near Allison and Erica before Peter continued. "And then we explained it to our adult children. I knew since I am the oldest wolf and Sarah is a powerful banshee, the older boys would gravitate towards us because they have witnessed more traumas and need strong protectors. Since the younger two are mostly human they would be more likely to gravitate toward Mel and John."

Erica nodded. Allison and Derek had already explained that upon further examination and questioning of the pups they found that Raul and Diego were pure born wolves and Juliet and Connor were not. Raul and Diego's mother and father originated from a pack in Texas, and a hunter killed their father before Diego was born. Juliet and Connor's mother had a wolf father and a human mother, and both her children's fathers were human. Due to some sort of genetic quirk the youngest Betas had all the perks of being a wolf but did not have the ability to shift into wolf form.

"So I take it you and your partners are okay with taking the pups on as your own?" Derek asked Melissa and Peter.

Melissa nodded. "Absolutely. Stiles, John and Danny are working on a back-story and leaving a trail of records, so John can take Peter, Sarah the kids and I to the station and city hall tomorrow to begin the adoption process. Raul said that none of them were born in a hospital so they had no paper trail. Danny is creating one now."

Derek looked to Peter and raised his eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that nephew. I always wanted pups. You know that. Sarah is pretty pleased as well. As for our biological children…well Malia and Lydia are ecstatic for little brothers."

"How are Stiles and Scott with this?" Erica asked.

Melissa and Connor giggled. "Stiles and Juliet are currently fighting over Scott. Juliet refused to let Scott put her down and keeps sticking her tongue out at Stiles whenever Scott isn't looking." Melissa informed them. "They are both quite the drama queens."

Connor took his head out of Melissa's shoulder and turned around in her lap to face the rest of the group, smiling at them and swiping the messy brown curls from his eyes. "Sti is funny." He said with a giggle, and tilting his head to the side in confusion at the perplexed looks his audience was giving him. "My new brother Sti. He funny. Sti and new brother Scotty make Julie smile." The little wolf clarified.

Melissa's grin got wider and she began tickling her adopted son. "Can you speak now handsome?" She teased as Connor giggled and nodded. "You have such a beautiful voice."

"Julie talks enough for me and her." Connor told Melissa. "Julie not here now."

Stiles came running into the room. "Mom? Did little brother utter my name before anyone else's?" He said with a grin.

"Hi Sti!" Connor said excitedly.

"Hi Con!" Stiles said scooping the boy from his mother and walking towards the door. "Sorry Mom, I'm stealing this adorable little wolf. That redheaded menace is stealing the heart of my best bro, I need a new one and Connor just volunteered to be my favorite." He told them while he carried Connor from the room.

"Bye-Bye Mama Mel!" Connor waived over Stiles' shoulder, prompting Melissa to tear up and follow the pair.

"For the amount of crap that is hanging over our heads there is a grotesque amount of joy in this den." Peter quipped watching Melissa and her sons leave.

Almost as soon as he said that a giggling Malia (with laughing Raul on her back) and a smiling Lydia (with a laughing Diego on her back) ran by the study with Sarah chasing after them, carrying the boys' pajamas. "You four get back here! Girls don't rile them up, they need to go to sleep soon!" She sighed stopping at the doors and glaring at Peter. "Peter! Do something with your children! They are hooligans, all four of them, _especially the ones that are supposed to be adults. _They just got finished tying people's shoelaces together in the kitchen! Who knows what the four of them will do next!"

Peter smiled, standing up, walking towards the door, "Pranks are practical bonding experience, my love. You should let them have their fun." Peter then turned to the room. "Do you want this closed?" He asked.

"Yes." Derek said with a grin.

"Shut up with your grinning you brat." Peter said.

"He didn't say anything." Sarah said slapping her husband.

"His smug little grin said it all." Peter responded closing the door.

Erica sighed and turned to Allison, it was time to get back to pack business. "So, Derek says you want the bite and your parents are coming back to town. Which do you want to address first?"

Allison sighed, "I've been wanting the bite for awhile, now. Both my mates are wolves, most of my family… I mean my pack is some sort of supernatural creature. I just feel this longing to be more connected with all of you, solidify my bond further, be able to run under the moon with you, be able to keep up with my friends and mates. Not to mention the strain my humanity has put on my mate-bond. Scott and Isaac can barely hug me without accidentally harming me. They beat themselves up about it constantly, and I hate that I am not on equal ground in my relationship. Lydia's not a wolf, but she heals faster than I do and only has one mate, I'm a human with two." She said near tears. "It would break us up if the three of us weren't so insanely in love with each other."

"I didn't know it was this bad." Derek said, "You said everything was fine."

"Derek, every time you look at me you grimace. You smell Argent, and your body language screams you don't want to be near me. The only reason I haven't asked before now was because I was afraid if you bit me you would reject me and I would die, strictly because of my biological family." Allison told Derek. "I wanted to give Erica some time to season up as an alpha, and I wanted time to talk it over with you both, but things have changed."

Erica was having a difficult time processing this, Ally had never given any indication of her relationship with her mates or how left out and powerless she felt in the pack. But now that is was just the three of them, Erica could hone in on her bond with the former huntress and sensed it all. She wanted to help her friend. Allison wanted to be a wolf more than anything; she wanted a firm place in the pack and wanted to be an equal with her pack and mates.

"What prompted you to ask Derek about it last night?" Erica asked.

"My cousin Reed texted me from a burner his parents don't know about yesterday. He's the only one in the family that did not disown me, but he's sixteen so he can't be caught being in contact with me. He eavesdropped on a leadership meeting a few nights ago, since Kate went off the rails and I was disowned there is no female heir set to be the next leader. Argent's are a matriarchy; this is a huge problem for them. They don't want to merge with some other hunting families, so they elected my dad leader until another female was born into the family. One of my uncles suggested that since the Hale Pack has gotten so large that someone come here and keep an eye on them and 'the traitor'. Keep the pack in line and see 'if the traitor produces something useful'."

Derek gulped audibly. "They wouldn't. They have no claim!" He growled.

Allison let a tear fall at this. "They will try."

Erica was utterly confused. "What does that mean?"

"It means that they will stay to make sure we are on our best behavior, and keep an eye on Allison in hopes she produces a female child. So they can take the child from us and raise her as a hunter." Derek growled. "And they call us monsters."

Erica shot out of her chair and began pacing the room. "But the odds of having a human and female child are not that high right? Scott and Isaac are wolves!"

"When the mother is human and the father is Bitten? The child is almost always human, as for gender, that's the same odds no matter the species." Derek said.

"But a Bitten mother and father, that gives higher odds for the kid coming out a wolf, or at the very least they'd like Juliet and Connor, which is werewolf enough for the Argents to lose interest in stealing a child." Allison said, "Werewolf genetics are fascinating, I've been reading up on it the past week."

"But even if the kid were human, and a girl, they aren't your parents. They scrubbed your identity. They have no legal reason to take your child from you." Erica growled, the thought of the hypothetical pup being torn from its parents made her skin crawl.

"A DNA test would fix that, and the fact that I live with a suspected cult would give them a fighting chance in court." Allison said with a sigh, "Look, Isaac, Scott and I aren't planning on going off contraceptives anytime soon, so my parents baby-napping any future daughter is not an immediate concern, just something we have to keep in mind. But a bite will give us less to worry about when we are ready for a child and I want to be a wolf. I know I am useful as a human, but I can protect my pack as a wolf and salvage my bond with my mates."

Erica sighed. "Did your cousin mention anything about Argents hunting pups? Do you have any clue why any Argents would hunt down children who have harmed no one?"

"No." Allison sighed, "Raul mentioned that his brother and mother lived outside of Seattle, and Juliet, Connor and their mom lived a few houses away. He says he remembers his mother being threatened and a few weeks later Juliet and Connor's mom are hiding the pups and telling them to run south when the sun came up. If they were close relatives of mine, he would have smelt the family relationship and be wary of me. He isn't. These hunters are either distant relatives or people who used to work for my old family."

Erica looked to Derek. She needed another adult beta, especially if there were new hunters in town. Every alpha needed two lieutenants. It helped stabilized the pack and gave a clear chain of command when the alpha was absent. Derek had Cora as his Second and Malia as his Third. Erica had Rosalyn, but she could not make one of the pups her Third, and have Rose as a Second would only cause more tension for the merging of the packs. Allison was trained to be a hunter and was almost as good as a strategist as Malia or Peter. Giving Allison the bite would not only strengthen the pack and help with the merge, but it would end the grief being human was causing her friend. But she did not want to cause more problems with Derek. Allison's mates were Derek's betas, making Allison part of Derek's pack; Erica didn't want him to feel like she was stealing her mate's beta.

"I want her to be my Second." Erica told him, finally stopping her pacing. "I want to know how much trouble this will cause our relationship."

Derek raised his eyebrow, stood up and walked over to Erica. "I'll send Rosalyn, Isaac and Scott in. Her mates will want to be here when you give her the bite and an adult pack-mate's presence is helpful when changing a human to a werewolf." He said kissing her forehead before heading towards the door. "You, Rose and Allison might want to rest together while she is transitioning, so I'll deal with the logistics of moving everyone back into _Wolf's Run_, getting the pups settled and figuring out what the hell the hunters want."

Erica smiled as he left the room and went to sit next to Allison. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes." Allison smiled. "Would you mind doing it before they all come in? Scott and Isaac will make it a whole deal, and Rose is nice but I'm not a wolf yet, I can't feel the bond with her, it would just be odd to have a stranger here."

Erica was suddenly frightened. "What if you reject it? We can't lose you."

Allison smiled. "Erica, trust your wolf."

_She's our Beta. Bite her before the male alpha does. He had his chance._ Her inner self growled.

Suddenly Erica felt her inner wolf take over and she shifted, quickly biting Allison on her right forearm. _She'll be strong. Our Beta. This is right._

And boy did it feel right. It was a power rush making someone pack who was born a wolf, but changing someone from a human to a wolf it felt like she was soaring. All the exhaustion she felt from the day melted away.

As soon as she bit Ally, Isaac and Scott rushed in the room followed closely by Rosalyn.

"You didn't wait for us!" Scott cried indignantly as he and Isaac inspected their mate's wound.

"I didn't want her to." Alison told them with a smile. "The two of you would have fussed."

"How are you feeling?" Isaac asked.

"I still feel human. But I can hear everything... I thought the change would all happen at once." Alison said with a yawn.

"She's going to be fine guys. I can feel it." Erica assured her friends. "I'm going to pull out the couch she's on into a bed and her, Rose and I will sleep here, make sure our pack-bond settles and by morning her transformation will be complete…aside from the few weeks it takes for a transformation to settle."

The boys nodded in understanding and kissed their mate goodbye. "Take care of her for us Erica. She's our everything." Scott pleaded when he and Isaac began to leave the room.

Erica nodded in understanding, and followed her pack-brothers to the door. "She is not rejecting the bite. She will be okay. She just needs rest."

After Erica shut the doors behind Isaac and Scott she turned to her betas, only to find they were cuddling each other and giggling. Erica couldn't help but smile. Rosalyn radiated happiness and Allison looked completely content.

"You made me a pack-sister Alpha!" Rosalyn said in glee. "Not only did you bring me into an extended pack filled with pack-brothers and pack-sisters, that would have been enough but you went and made me a little pack-sister!" Rosalyn cradled Allison as if she were a gift from the heavens. "A sister to coach in the ways of the wolf, to share in the burden of being an adult beta, to stand at my side as we stand at yours. This is wonderful."

"It does feel pretty great." Allison said sleepily.

Erica instructed Rose to support the sleepy beta while Erica made the pull-out couch into a bed, and retrieved the linens and blankets from the cupboard to make up the bed. Within a few minutes she and her two adult betas were curled up on the bed, cuddling, before drifting off to sleep.

For the first time since she received Alpha power, she felt like an actual alpha. She had her own pack within the Hale Pack, she had her own Second and Third and she had four tiny betas that called her Alpha. She wasn't just the mate of the Hale Alpha anymore; she had people who would follow her no matter her connection to Derek.

* * *

Erica woke slowly the next morning, not at all bothered at the six other heartbeats that were in the bed with her or the giggles. It seemed that during the night, her four puppy-betas had crawled out of their own beds and into the makeshift one she shared with Allison and Rosalyn.

"Alpha." Juliet said poking her side. "Wake up quicker Alpha! We have a big day today! Mama Mel and Daddy are adopting Connor and Me today!"

"And Diego and I are getting adopted by Sarah and Peter." Raul said from the other side of the bed. "Is it okay that we don't call them mom and dad? We had a Mom, and I still remember my Dad…"

Before Erica could say anything Rose cut in. "I'm sure they don't mind Raul. You decide what you are comfortable with calling them, they will care for you no matter what."

Finding the response acceptable, Raul responded to Rosalyn with a "You are comfy Rosie" before becoming silent again.

Erica finally opened her eyes and sat up a bit. Alison, Diego and Connor were piled in the center of the bed and all had looks on their faces that told her they did not intend on moving. Luckily, Erica would not have to wake up them alone, she heard the rest of the pack making their way into the Den from their homes or down the stairs from their bedrooms, soon the majority Reyes-Hale Pack would be on the first floor of the Den.

Erica got out of the bed as quietly as she could and rushed towards the study door before flinging them open as quickly as possible, sending the eavesdropping Stiles and Cora hurdling towards the floor. "Should we call it Reyes-Hale Pack, Hale-Reyes Pack, or simply the Hale Pack and have the sub-packs be Derek's Pack and Erica's Pack?" She mused to her friends on the floor.

"Hale Pack would be simpler, less confusion, more unity of the two sub-packs into one." Derek said rounding the corner, smiling at his sister and brother-in-law on the floor. "You two cannot give Allison a moment to breathe before you plan her puppy pile?"

"Tradition is sacred big brother." Cora muttered helping herself up, while Stiles still sat on the ground pouting at being caught eavesdropping.

"Alpha! You hurt my big brother!" Juliet yelled in horror running towards Stiles and inspecting him for injuries, her concern was enough to rouse Connor and have him running over to Stiles as well.

"I'm fine Julie." Stiles assured her, "Nothing bruised but my ego. You two however…" He said as he pulled her and the newly arrived Connor into his lap. "I specifically remember Mom and Dad tucking the two of you into bed in the room next to theirs last night."

"Needed to be near Ally." Juliet said in explanation.

"_John! The kids are gone! Someone help! Juliet and Connor are missing!"_ Allison heard Melissa yell from the third floor.

"Mama Mel can't hear we are down here?" Juliet asked confused.

"No Sweetie." Cora said. "Her and your Daddy are human. They don't have senses like you and I do."

This alarmed the two youngest pack members who started running towards the panicking voices of Melissa and John yelling, "_We're okay! We're coming!"_ Stiles and Cora followed them making sure they didn't trip over themselves.

Erica saw that Raul and Diego looked slightly panicked. "Peter knows where you are, you aren't in trouble. But you should go to your room and find a change of clothes before your new sisters decide to dress you." this got the eight and ten year old boys moving quickly towards the backdoor and Peter and Sarah's house.

Rosalyn and Allison were already folding away the bed and putting the linens back were they were to begin with. "I'll see you two at breakfast." She said turning towards the stairs to go to the bedroom she shared with Derek before pausing when her mate didn't follow.

"I'm on breakfast duty this morning." He explained, as he made his way toward the kitchen. This made her disappointed and excited at the same time. On one hand she wanted some alone time with her mate, but on the other hand Derek was one of the best cooks in the pack.

Once she got to the bedroom, she plugged her cell-phone in on Derek's charger and proceeded to shower and dress for the day. Once that routine was through she went to the phone and saw she had a voicemail waiting for her from an unknown number. She played the message in interest.

"_Hello Erica. This is Marin Morell. I was wondering if you would be willing to accept me as Emissary to your pack. Braeden has told me that you have rejoined with the Hale Pack, but have betas of your own and she is concerned that she will be an acceptable Emissary to a pack that large. I miss my niece and my hometown greatly, and believe that I was wrong in blaming you and the rest of the Hale's for my brother's death. Alan and my mother loved the Hale Pack, I never felt that kind of caring or devotion to the packs I've served in the past. I hope you will accept me."_

Erica sighed. This just seemed like another situation to add to her 'Problems To Solve' list. This situation had the potential to cause more problems for her with Derek. But if Bray really was worried about fulfilling duties to a pack as large as theirs, then she saw no reason to deny Ms. Morell's request. So she decided that she would need to have a discussion with Derek and Braeden before she gave Marin Morell a response. Having her own druid would be nice, especially sense Ms. Morell had a degree in child psychology and Erica had four young betas that might need counseling in the near future.

Hearing the squeals and laughter of a puppy-pile coming from the living room, Erica stood up and headed downstairs ready to start the day.

* * *

After breaking up Allison's puppy-pile and eating breakfast as a pack, everyone decided to chip in with the clean up as they all discussed their duties for the first half of the day.

"So Sarah, Peter, Melissa, John and the pups are going to get the adoption and custody paperwork started, then they are going to the elementary school to get the pups enrolled for classes." Erica said in clarification, ignoring the groans that Raul and Diego gave at the mention of school. "You have your back-story and the paperwork ready? The pups know what to say?" She asked the group.

"Mama Mel and Daddy have been trying to adopt us for a long time. Our caseworker dropped us off at their house yesterday without explains if we were legally their kids." Juliet said. "Right?"

Melissa nodded. "Good job Julie."

"And Raul and I are Peter's God-sons. We have been living here for a week, and haven't heard a thing from our parents." Diego told Erica. "We are going to the police station to see if there is any news about our parents, since we haven't been able to get a hold of them. They'll look up the fake names and see that they died in a car accident. Then, after Raul and I stop crying, Peter and Sarah will state that they want to adopt us since we are family and they don't want us going into foster care."

Sarah nodded. "Exactly. But I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with making them lie and cry for this to work. They are children." She said in exasperation.

Raul shook his head. "You are not making us do anything. We want to stay with you. This is the way it has to happen. It's the least suspicious way to explain the four of us showing up out of the blue."

All the pups nodded in agreement.

Erica sighed, it had to be done, but no matter how they played this they would look even more like a cult in the town's eyes after this weekend. With the kids showing up and Braeden, the Sheriff and Melissa moving to _Wolf's Run_, the Beacon Hills gossips would have endless things to speculate about.

Apparently Melissa and John had already been convinced of the benefits of moving to Wolf's Run before the arrival of the pups, and had begun the process of packing their things. They were a bit worried about what living with a 'cult' would do to John's position as Sheriff, but were willing to risk it for the safety of pack and to be close to their kids. The fact that Juliet and Connor needed to be close to their Alpha only helped to finalize their decision.

"So while that is happening, Cora, Allison, Isaac, Scott and myself will finish up the packing at Mom and Dad's house and help the movers move everything from their house to the brand new house here." Stiles explained. "How you got movers on such short notice amazes me, Derek. Must be nice to be rolling in dough."

Derek snorted and rolled his eyes at Stiles. "Danny, Aiden, Ethan, Boyd and Jackson. I need you to pack up Braeden and Erica's dorm room, bring everything back here and bring the things to either the master bedroom or Braeden and Rosalyn's house. As I understand it, most of Braeden's things are still packed, so half some of the work has been done for you."

The guys rolled their eyes at this, not looking forward to moving duty at all. "And Braeden and Erica can't help move their own shit because?" Jackson asked.

"There is a torture worse that moving in store for me." Braeden answered him, shivering dramatically. "I'm being sent to the mall."

"Bray," Rosalyn said with a grin. "I think it sounds fun. We are in charge of buying a few outfits for me to last me until my things from home arrive, and furniture for our house while Malia, Lydia and Kira are going to buy furniture for the puppies' bedrooms."

"You have never been shopping with Lydia Martin, new girl." Jackson said. "I'd choose moving duty any day."

Most of the people on moving duty nodded in agreement, while Lydia grinned sinisterly, Malia held up three credit cards (two in Derek's name and one in Peter's name) with a grin and Kira giggled. Peter and Derek paled a bit at the cards in Malia's hands; Erica could do nothing but pat her mate's back in comfort.

"Please, try your best not to go over board." Derek pleaded. "Get the basics for the kids and save the decorations and what not for a day when they can go pick out things with their parents."

"Fine." Lydia sighed dramatically. "That is reasonable I suppose."

At that point the dishes were finished and everyone was getting ready to leave on their respective missions. John and Stiles were trying to get the car seats strapped into John's cruiser, some of her pack brothers were fighting over who was the unlucky person that had to drive the van to campus, everyone else was debating on weather to take their own cars or one of the packs' four SUV's on their trips. Lydia had already snagged an SUV for herself Malia and Kira, and Braeden had once again stolen the keys to Erica's truck.

Soon Isaac, Allison and Scott were waiting in their sedan with Cora for Stiles to finish with the car seats, Peter was being chastised by Sarah for beeping the horn of his car impatiently while their two boys laughed, Jackson was behind the wheel of the van and driving it like it was his Porsche down the driveway while Danny prayed for his life, and the Twins and Boyd followed them.

"We still have the painters coming in an hour to paint the pup's bedrooms, and the McCall-Stilinski home." Malia said as she passed Erica and Derek, making her way toward the SUV Lydia sat in. Lydia, like her stepfather, was also honking the horn impatiently. "You have to stay here to show them where to go…Shut up Lydia! You are acting like Dad!" Malia yelled as she opened the door to the vehicle. Lydia stopped honking immediately.

"Rose, are you sure you and Bray don't want your house painted?" Kira asked, ignoring the Martin-Hale sisters that were glaring at her for making them wait. "All the walls are beige if you don't."

"I'm content with beige." Rosalyn said looking towards Erica's truck where Braeden was humming along with the radio, like she had not committed any crime by stealing Erica's keys. "I like colorful furniture, instead of walls, and Bray doesn't like much fuss. We will be fine with beige, and most of the furniture coming from my place in San Francisco."

"How is that getting here?" Kira asked while sticking her tongue out at the Martin-Hale sisters and smiling.

"I'm calling a moving company today, and Braeden's aunt has agreed to supervise the packing and moving." Erica told Kira. "You two should go, Malia and Lydia look like they are going to burst a blood vessel."

The Beta and the Kitsune laughed and made their way to their respective vehicles. Seconds after Kira was in the car, Lydia took off down the driveway, and Bray and Rose followed behind them at a much slower pace.

Stiles, finally finished with the car seats, got into the McCall-Lahey sedan and the vehicle left. And as the Sheriff and Melissa figured out how to strap Connor in correctly, Juliet ran over to where Erica and Derek stood admiring the chaos that was their pack.

"Alpha! Boy-Alpha!" the little girl squealed. "What do you get to do today? Scotty said that everyone had very important tasks today, what are you two doing?"

Derek kneeled down to the little she-wolf's level, "We have very important Alpha business to attend to. One of the things we have to do is look for clues about the people who were hunting you."

Juliet nodded solemnly. "That's very important. The Doctor knows things, Boy-Alpha… does that help you?"

Erica kneeled down as well. "That is very helpful Julie. It gives us a place to start."

The she-wolf grinned and ran back towards the Sheriff's cruiser so Melissa could place her in her car seat. Erica and Derek stood and watched as Peter and John drove their families down the driveway.

"The Doctor knows something?" Erica mused, "Could it be the same doctor that used to give me the creeps and you decided to confirm the existence of wolves to him?"

Derek glared at her. "We already established it wasn't my best decision."

Erica smiled, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "That we did. Unfortunately, we cannot leave the property unattended today, so you will have to invite him to our home so we can have a chat with him."

* * *

Christopher Argent sighed as he put down the phone.

He hadn't wanted to go back to Beacon Hills but the family had voted, and in the absence of a matriarch the family became a democracy. The Hale Pack needed to be watched, with the spike in murders of a few months ago in Beacon Hills, and talks of cult activity, Hale had drawn the attention of the FBI. The Argents needed to make sure that no humans would die if the FBI decided to apprehend Hale as a suspected cult leader. A pack of Bitten wolves like the Hale Pack could get very unstable if their only alpha was threatened and Chris hoped he wouldn't have to exterminate them all if Hale was arrested.

They had no clue how large the pack was exactly. All they had was rumors from friends they still had from when they lived in Beacon Hills. They had no clue how many of the people linked with 'Derek Hale's Cult' were wolves and how many were human. Victoria was prepared to fake reconciliation with Allison to determine how large the pack was and how each one of them related to one another, but Chris was reluctant to do that. They had already broken their child beyond repair by disowning her, and already had plans to steal any human daughter she produced, faking reconciliation for intelligence seemed unnecessarily cruel.

"Chris? Who was that on the phone?" Victoria asked while walking into the sitting area of their hotel room.

"Matthew." Chris sighed.

"And why was your brother calling?"

"He was calling around some men that worked for Dad, hoping to give us and our men reinforcements when going to Beacon Hills. Apparently, four of them are already on a hunt… with Henry."

"Katherine's crazy ex-fiancé Henry?" She asked. "I thought he only hunted rare supernatural creatures, and sold them on the black market?"

Chris nodded. Henry Maxwell was a madman. So crazy and brutal even he gave Chris' insane baby sister the creeps. If the person who trapped the entire Hale family in their home and burnt them alive thought you were insane, then you probably should be in prison, locked away from the rest of the world.

"Matt says that they are hunting a Seer, have been since Seattle. The she-wolf that they thought was the Seer and her friend killed themselves before Henry and his crew could determine which woman was the Seer. Henry is convinced that one of the children of the women is a Seer now. They chased the kids to the outskirts of Beacon Hills. I don't think they know about the Hale Pack."

"That man plans to capture a child and sell him or her off to the highest bidder? Wolf-children are innocent until they kill a human, they do not deserve to be hunted." Victoria said in disgust.

"I know. It seems we have to move back sooner than expected. We might have to stop Henry and his men or warn the Hale Pack about them. I cannot have that child's life on my conscience." Chris said.

Victoria nodded and sat down on the sofa next to him. "We leave in the morning."

"Vikki?"

She snorted at the nickname he only used in private. "Yes?"

"Do you regret what we did to Allison? I mean honestly, do you regret that we disowned her and turned our backs on her?" He asked.

"Most of the time, no. She chose to stay with the wolves. She decided to be polyamorous. She turned her back on the way we raised her and her birthright as an Argent matriarch. She tells us she loves us in one breath and in the next tells us she needs us to quit hunting in order for her to have a relationship with us. We really had no other choice." Victoria said, while tears formed. "But sometimes I catch myself missing telling people about my amazing daughter, or cringe when one of the family refer to her as 'The Traitor', or wish that we were able to do what she asked of us and leave hunting behind so we could still be her parents…I don't regret our choice, we have been trained that hunting was more important than anything since birth, that we had to uphold the code at all costs. We are incapable of any other choice. But I wish we could still have our child, know that she is happy, share in her life."

Chris pulled his wife close as he cried with her. He was glad that she felt the same as he did regarding their Allison. They were always hunters first, then parents. They loved their daughter immensely and wanted her to be happy, but were emotionally incapable of choosing their child over hunting. Maybe if they had raised her as a hunter from birth like they were raised, instead of waiting until she was ten to begin her training, Allison would have never gotten involved with wolves. But they waited, they let her make her own decisions, and stopped monitoring her daily movements and cell-phone activity once she went to college so they did not know about her werewolf romance until it was too late. They hated her choice to run with the wolves, but they loved her still.

"She is going to have hate in her eyes when she sees us back in town isn't she?" Victoria asked.

"Yes, but maybe we can make up for not being the parents she needed us to be by protecting her and her pack from Maxwell. You know that Hale took those pups in if Maxwell hasn't found them yet, and Maxwell will be going after the Hale pack to get to the Seer." Chris said. "We will protect her as much as we can... and maybe that will get her to understand that we love her but cannot be her parents."

"And if Hale ends up going to jail, and his pack goes rabid?" Victoria asked.

"Then we kill all the wolves, and get our child back when her mates are dead." Christopher said. "She'll be upset, but she'll understand once she sees that an Alpha-less Bitten Pack get murderous when their Alpha is taken away from them."

Victoria nodded. "Even if that doesn't happen, at least we can watch her from afar… I just want her safe and happy."

"Me too."

* * *

**AN: The Argents don't know anything specific about the pack. Allison did not give them any info beyond what they say when Peter killed Kate and Derek killed Peter. They know who is associated with the "Hale Cult" by rumor, but not if they are born or bitten, if they are human or not. They don't really believe that Cora and Malia are Hales because as far as they know all Hales besides Peter and Derek died in the fire, they think they are fake identities to throw suspicion off the amount of people that live at the Hale House, they think that Peter is still dead. The definitely know nothing about Erica being Derek's mate or that she is an alpha.**

**Special thanks to my friend Allie for helping me through my writer's block and giving me feedback on this chapter, one chunk at a time. I was really having a hard time and her feedback helped me gain confidence in my writing again and realize which parts could be left out until the next chapter.**

**Thoughts? Questions? Constructive Criticism? Leave a review below or and ask on my tumblr.**

**Check out my writing tumblr (**hailhaleswriting**) Or visit **allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf ** for bonus info and updates on this fic and others. **


	7. Seven

**AN: I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine**

* * *

**Alpha She-Wolf**

**Chapter Seven**

* * *

While Derek placed the phone call to Dr. Joseph, asking him if he could stop buy the house today, Erica showed the painters which rooms in which houses needed to be painted. Someone had already taken the liberty of taping a sample of the wanted color of each wall, and the McCall-Stilinski home was next door to the Martin-Hale home so they really didn't need her for much more than unlocking the front doors. When Erica re-entered the Den, her mate was lounging in the living room waiting.

"He is on shift until one. He says he can stop by then." Derek told her as she sat next to him on the sofa. "And you have a missed call from Marin."

Erica sighed. "She wants to join our pack as my Emissary. She says it's to help Braeden, but part of me says she wants a family again."

Derek nodded. "Makes sense. Bray is still an inexperienced Druid, and her father died while he was still training her. Her and Alan are the only family Marin had. She would want to assist her last living relative as best she could and experience a true pack again."

"I'm worried." She admitted.

"About what?"

"Mostly about making you angry, having my own Emissary is the last thing I need to officially be a pack. We'd officially be two packs joined as one. And I know you and others members of the pack were upset when I started to make my own pack."

Derek wrapped his arm around her. "That's because we thought it meant you were leaving us for good. You and I were fighting, and once you bit Rosalyn we were all hurt and confused because we didn't know what it meant. Now, I know and everyone else knows that you want your own betas, but you want us all to be one pack. I think everyone is okay, or working on being okay with it."

"Are you okay with it?"

"No." He said, and Erica stiffened and stood up. "Erica, wait…"

"For what Derek? What is wrong with the alpha in me finally taking what she deserves?" She said glaring down at him, feeling her rage begin to bubble.

"Nothing, it just gets the alpha in me on edge." He growled at her. "Yes, you deserve betas of your own, and an Emissary of your own, and I love that you are finally ready to do all this for yourself but… I'm an alpha too Erica! I'm territorial, I'm stubborn, I'm protective and I hold a grudge."

Erica's rage cooled. "And even though we decided that we wouldn't finish our fight until we find out what is out to get our pack next, we are still mad at each other."

He nodded. "I love you Erica. I'm happy that we have one big joint pack. That we are finally equals, and our packs our happy together. But, even though I'm happy for you it feels wrong… we feel wrong."

"We need to finish the fight…talk as calm as possible…if we leave it unfinished we cant move past it." Erica suggested. "Let me call Marin, and tell her that after she supervises the packing of Rosalyn's apartment she can do the same to her apartment. Then we'll have enough time to talk before the Doc visits."

He nodded. "I'll call the movers and have them add her address in addition to Rosalyn's."

They placed their calls and Erica braced herself for their talk as she told Marin Morell that she would be delighted to let her join the pack as her Emissary. Marin was very thankful, and glad that she would be moving her things after she supervised Rose's move. Braeden had told her about the hunters in town and how the Argent's would arrive soon as well.

"Everything shaping up Erica. Soon things will get difficult for the entire Hale Pack. I need to be there and integrate myself to the pack before things happen, so I can be effective in helping protect our pack." Marin told her.

"Marin, what have you heard?" Erica asked.

"Only whispers. But based on the signs he will be only one of our problems. His name is Henry Maxwell. He's a hunter that hunts the most rare supernatural creatures and sells them or their body parts on the black-market. Rumor is that he is on the hunt for a young Seer last seen in the Beacon Hills area."

Erica gulped. "And Braeden told you…"

"That you found a Seer in the woods yesterday? A five year old female Seer that is of a wolf bloodline? Yes, Braeden told me this morning when we both felt my connection with the Hale Pack begin to form. You had not formally accepted me yet but your mind had, so any oath of silence Braeden had as Derek's Emissary was rendered moot as we are both now in the same pack. No worries, I am bond not to discuss these things outside of pack." Marin said sensing Erica's fear for Juliet's safety in her voice. "I was an idiot rebelling against my mother's wishes when I bound myself to Deucalion. Just because he was murderous and power hungry does not mean I am. I will protect our pack Erica. Which is why I must tell you that young Juliet is not the only one in danger."

Derek had come to stand next to her after his phone call ended and was listening carefully to Marin's words. "What do you mean?" He said.

"I mean this man hunts rare supernatural creatures and sells them off to the highest bidder, dead or alive. Hybrids, Seers, any kind of were besides wolf, Banshees, Kitsune, Kamimas, Fae and more are all on his to capture and kill list. It is my understanding that the Hale Pack has a Seer, two Banshees and a half Kitsune among its ranks. Beacon Hills is filled with rare supernatural's, the nematon attracts them, once this man realizes that, he will be difficult to be rid of without exterminating him."

Derek had to take the phone from Erica's hands before she crushed it in her hands. "Thank you for the information Marin, everyone will exercise extreme caution. We will keep you updated of any changes."

"Derek, one last thing." Marin said. "Does the house you had built for Braeden have a spare room? I would like to stay as close to the pack as possible if you will let me."

"Yes, her house will have a spare room. You are welcome to use that room or any of the Den's guestrooms. Have a safe trip here." He said hanging up the phone.

They both sighed and stared at each other. They had to have their discussion now, and get everything out in the open before the pack came under attack. The problem was, that everything seemed inconsequential to her now that her pack was under attack. She no longer cared about the names that he called her or him not listening to her opinion. She felt remorse for comparing their relationship to his relationship with Kate, but other than that she thought that the original argument did not matter anymore. She vocalized these feelings to him.

"I forgive you for the Kate thing. That hurt but, I know you didn't mean it." He began. "I'm sorry for how quickly that fight escalated as well. Most of the argument I can move past except for one thing… The fact that you were relieved that you weren't carrying our child."

"Just because I'm not ready to be a mother yet, doesn't mean I'll never be ready Derek." Erica told him as calmly as she could, resisting the urge to yell at him for twisting her words from all those weeks ago. "It's just I need time to feel secure in this new life. Perhaps in a few years I'll be ready but for now…can our pack and myself be enough for you?"

Derek took a deep breath. "So you aren't saying no to pups of our own. You are just saying no for now?"

Erica resisted the urge to pat him on the back for finally hearing what she had been saying all this time, but settled for smiling up at him and saying "Yes."

Derek gathered her up into a hug and swung her around the living room with a chuckle. "So your telling me it took us nearly three weeks to resolve that issue?" he said.

"We're both alphas, my love. We want it our way or no way, and were unwilling to listen to what the other was saying. I guess we needed some time apart to hear the other person." Erica said after they settled in on the sofa. "I hope it doesn't happen again, but I know it might."

"Well, if we do fight again, I wont be so bad that we separate completely. I haven't slept right without you. I've missed you."

* * *

They napped on the living room sofa, wrapped in each other's arms for an hour before the security app on Derek's phone woke them. Derek grumbled and opened the app to see that a car was coming down the drive towards the house.

"You left the gate open?" Erica asked.

"Seemed sensible with all the moving trucks and painters vans we'd be having today." He said. "I think that's the Doctors car. But he's a bit early."

They both sighed and made their way to the front door and opened it in time to see Dr. Joseph emerge from his vehicle. Erica growled, remembering Juliet's earlier hint about the Doctor. If this man had anything to do with this Maxwell or his team then she would gladly hurt him.

The Doc approached the door and Derek invited him in, engaging him in small talk. Erica did not have the patience for small talk. "What the hell are you?"

"Erica…" Derek groaned.

"I'm sorry Derek, I have no patience for pleasantries when there are hunters in town and more on the way." Erica told her mate before turning to the doctor. "So what is your deal? Are you working with this Maxwell guy? Or another hunter? What business do you have with my pack?"

The Doctor paled. "Henry Maxwell is in town?"

"Yes, he a friend of yours?" Erica growled, and Derek did the same.

"No, the opposite." Dr. Joseph said. "I belong to a network of people in Beacon Hills that wish to make their presence known to you, they have elected me to educate your pack on our existence. Henry Maxwell will not only want to exterminate your pack, but he will be after most of the town of Beacon Hills."

"Why?" Derek asked, "and why does your group wish to make themselves known?"

"Mr. Hale, The nematon, although it is not at full strength, is a beacon for supernatural creatures of all types. Many of us have lived in this town since it was settled, back when the nematon was at full power and others sense that this is a place that is friendly to the supernatural. We make ourselves known to one another and try to help each other. We are simply more discreet about our connection than wolf packs are. We are not all the same, so we don't feel the same desire that you do to be near to one another."

"Are you saying that the whole town is supernatural? And mostly the type of 'rare- supernatural' that Maxwell hunts?" Erica sighed. "I thought Marin was exaggerating. If that is so, why is the rumor constantly going around that we are in a cult?"

"Ms. Reyes, the town is at most fifty-percent human, and when the humans do not understand something they talk about it. I can assure you that anyone that said a thing against your pack was not supernatural…nearly everyone remembers the benefits of having a wolf-pack in town and were ecstatic when Derek here began rebuilding the Hale Pack. We are not all supernaturally strong or gifted, some of us just have extra senses or odd diets…we need someone to help protect the town, and that was always the Hale Pack. Beacon Hills had been mostly defenseless for a decade until Derek came back."

"So The Council still exists?" Derek asked. "I remember my mother speaking about The Council but I never knew how many people it represented."

"The Council?" Erica asked.

"That's what my group calls themselves. Each species governs itself; the leader of the species sends a representative to each council meeting. Each species has its own way of choosing who represents them in The Council and how they are ruled, but everyone is represented by one elected or appointed councilmember." Dr. Joseph said. "For instance, since my species in town consists of my family and my brothers family, we take turns each year being The Council representative and our wives take turns being species leader."

Erica nodded; barely believing that the town she lived her whole life in was filled with more supernatural creatures than she could comprehend. "And what exactly are you?" She asked the Doctor.

"Mostly human. I just feed off of intense human emotion." Dr. Joseph said.

"You could have just said vampire." Derek supplied.

The Doc rolled his eyes at that term. "Unfortunately, my species name has been used in pop culture to describe blood-vampires. I do not need the blood of others to live, I can reproduce, I do not have supernatural strength or supernatural speed, I am not allergic to sunlight and I live as long a human does."

Erica stilled at the realization. "All those times after my seizures! You were feeding off my emotions! That's why you gave me the creeps!"

The Doctor looked a bit sheepish at this. "My apologies, most of the time the person I feed from does not notice."

"Feeding off someone doesn't harm them does it?" She asked.

"No, it does not" He supplied. "No one in this town harms others to survive, The Council forbids it."

Erica nodded. "Does our pack get a seat on this Council?"

"You are just wolves correct?" The Doctor said.

"No, we have members of other species that call themselves pack." Derek said.

"Well, that poses a complication, if these species are already represented on The Council. If not I suppose they could have their own seat…For now how about you decide who will represent your pack to The Council and that person will report back after the first meeting, and you can decide as a pack weather your non-wolves would like a seat or if they feel like your representative hold their interests in account..." The doctor said walking towards the exit. "I will pass the news of Maxwell being in town, and the other hunters arriving immediately. The entire community will be on the look out, and will notify you when they have information."

"Thank you Dr. Joseph. " Derek said, escorting the doctor out. "Once we decide who to send to The Council, I will pass your information on to them to get the details of the next meeting. Thank you for coming over and answering our questions."

"It was no trouble at all Mr. Hale, Ms. Reyes."

After the Doctor was in the car Derek and Erica turned to each other and said "I think Peter should be our council-representative."

Erica laughed. "I guess we are back to being in-sync aren't we?"

"Looks like it. I'll text Peter the good news."

"He'll be perfect. His wife's a banshee, so he will consider the non-wolves in his decisions, he is cagey enough not to reveal all our secrets and he knows about many species of supernatural so not many people on The Council will have to explain what they are to him." *

"My feelings exactly." Derek said firing off a few text messages and throwing his phone to her. "You keep an eye on the property, I'm going for a run along the perimeter, hopefully I can catch the scent of those hunters. They'll come back at some point to look for the pups."

Erica nodded. "Be safe."

* * *

Derek's perimeter run did not turn up any new clues, so he simply ran in the woods of _Wolf's Run_ while the painters finished. He was so angry that he nearly chased off the painting crew when he came back from his exercise an hour later, not having the patience for non-pack members when he could not locate the hunters after his pack. Luckily for them his red eyes did not phase the painters, they simply flashed their green eyes right back at him.

"Watch it boy, I'm not afraid of a red glowing eyes. My sister is our Pride's leader and has red glowing eyes. We don't mean any harm." Mr. Cooper said and he, his brother in-law, son and nephew began to put away their supplies, eyes still glowing green.

"Sorry, Mr. Cooper. We are a bit on edge because of a group of hunters in town." Erica said, "Derek is just frustrated that he can't find their scent."

"We know. We heard parts of your conversation with the Vamp." Mr. King, Mr. Cooper's brother-in-law said. "Henry Maxwell is no good for anyone."

Derek nodded to them and his eyes stopped glowing. "Good to know I can at least sniff out other Weres…" he grumbled. "Can't tell if you are cougars, panthers or mountain lions but they always smelt the same to me."

"We're cougars Hale. Sometimes we are called panthers and mountain lions, but we prefer to be called cougars." Jake Cooper said.

"Thank you for the rush paint job." Erica said, not really caring what species they were since she was still getting used to the fact that Bill King^, the boy who filmed her having a seizure once and posted it online, was also a Were and standing in her backyard staring at her. "We want to get our pack together as soon as we can with these new hunters about."

Mr. Cooper nodded, "No problem, Ms. Reyes. We understand. Our pride is easy to keep close, because it just our family, I can only imagine what it like keeping track of a pack the size of yours."

As Mr. Cooper spoke, the Sheriff's cruiser and Sarah's SUV came up the driveway and parked in the garage. The pups all were out of their cars before their parents and rushing over to where she stood next to Derek.

"Alpha!" They all exclaimed in excitement. "We got adopted today!"

Erica smiled and knelt down. "How exciting! Did your new parents teach you what to call me when there is someone that doesn't belong to the pack nearby?"

The pups looked guilty. "We're supposed to call you Erica, because humans don't understand words like 'alpha' and 'pack'." Raul said, "Are we in trouble?"

"Alpha we can't be in trouble!" Juliet insisted. "They are were-kittys, they are not humans!"

Derek and the Cooper-King family snorted at Juliet's 'were-kitty' description.

"Well I suppose I will let that one go, just remember for next time okay? There are dangerous people out there." Erica said scooping up Connor. "Want to go see your room?"

Connor shook his head and pointed to the cars where Peter, Sarah, Melissa and John were unloading some bags from a children's clothing store. "We has to wait."

"Is my bunk bed here yet?" Deigo asked. "Malia is getting me a bunk bed even though I don't have to share with Raul anymore, cuz I really wanted a bunk bed."

"Not yet." Erica told him, "Should be here soon."

Juliet had walked over to Bill King and was staring at him. "Boy-Alpha! This kitty was mean to Alpha when she was human! Can I kick him?" The tiny beta asked.

"Juliet McCall-Stilinski!" Melissa said. "No, you cannot kick anyone!"

Bill King looked horrified, but the rest of his family was highly amused. "What do you expect Billy!" His father said, "no one will forget what a terrible shit you were in high school, Ms. Reyes is within her rights to kick your scrawny ass if she wants to."

Erica simply shrugged, not caring enough about Bill King to warrant 'kick his scrawny ass'.

"Well, we should be off." Mr. Cooper said, signaling his family to get into their cars at seeing a moving van and many cars pull around the driveway. "We'll keep an eye out for those hunters, and we'll see you around town."

They all got in their cars and left soon after giving a waive goodbye to Erica and Derek. There leaving made room for the van filled with her and Braeden's things, the McCall-Stilinski moving truck and the large truck from the furniture store with furniture for the pups, Bray and Rose. Luckily everyone had arrived back from their tasks to help with the madness that unpacking all these vehicles entailed.

Melissa and Sarah took charge, telling the movers and pack members where each box or piece of furniture belonged, they emptied the moving truck and furniture store vehicle first, getting all the non-pack members out as soon as possible.

After the non-pack members were gone, everyone took a break for lunch and began unpacking Braden and Erica's things, or helping the Melissa, John, Rose, Braeden and the pups settle in their new houses. Erica's things were back in their correct places within an hour of being unpacked, but settling the others in their new homes took the rest of the day.

While unpacking, Erica and Derek were able to relay what they found out about Maxwell and the existence of The Council to the rest of the pack, and stress the need for vigilance. Everyone was on edge about Maxwell, and the fact he wanted Juliet but was also very happy that they weren't the only supernaturals in Beacon Hills anymore.

* * *

Once dinnertime rolled around the pack split up again. Derek took all of Erica's betas on a tour of _Wolf's Run_ (even though Allison already had the tour when the property was first built) and stressed where the entrances to the underground bunker and escape tunnels were placed, taking the time afterward to input the new pack members identification (handprints/voiceprints etc) into the security system so they could gain access to the property and it's underground network of tunnels without Derek and Erica's approval. Peter (having left while everyone was helping the McCall-Stilinski's move in for his first Council meeting) arrived back in time to lead his daughters in cooking the meal, promising to update Erica and Derek during dinner on his meeting. Most of the rest of the pack was either running around the woods or helping Melissa and John finish settling in.

Erica stood in the living room of Braeden and Rosalyn's house watching her normally serene friend run from room to room. The house was only had a few pieces of furniture, as the couple planned on using the things Rose already had to decorate their home.

"I can't believe you let Derek tell aunt Marin we had a spare room!" Bray said, finally pausing. "Do you know how long I got yelled at when I told her Rose and I were purchasing a bedroom set, and planned on sharing the master bedroom? She was under the impression we were living in separate rooms."

"Why is she so upset?" Erica asked. "Is it because Rose is a girl?"

"It's more that I'm sharing a bed with someone when I haven't had a proper Druid wedding yet…She is super traditional. Living together before a bonding ceremony…especially sharing a bed is frowned upon." Bray sighed looking to the stairs that lead to the two empty bedrooms. "At least she will be on a separate floor. She'll get over it once she settles in to living with the pack and get to know Rose…right?"

Erica nodded. "Once she sees how happy you are with Rosalyn around, I'm sure she'll get used to the idea."

Bray seemed to settle at Erica's reassurance. "I suppose we will find out tomorrow morning when she is knocking on the gates. I am glad you are letting her be your Emissary, I was feeling overwhelmed being responsible for a pack as large as ours."

"Do you think this two packs in one thing will work?" Erica asked.

Braeden laughed and hugged her. "Oh, Puppy-Alpha, its already working. Do you see how seamlessly everything went today? The transition? Rose was able to interact with everyone without panic because she felt a bond with them, your puppies have everyone wrapped around their little claws and Allison, a newly bitten beta, was able to leave the Den without experiencing pain of being separated from the pack because her wolf recognized her mates, Stiles and Cora as part of her extended pack. The only people who have any worry about the two packs becoming one are you and your mate. Because you are both…how do I put this delicately...?"

"Mini-Deaton, I believe the term you are looking for is Sour-Alphas…"Malia said from the open door, smiling when Erica growled at the term. "Dinner's ready. Can you howl for everyone Erica? I think Kira talked some of the boys into playing tag in the woods…"

Erica nodded and walked out onto Braeden's back porch before howling. Within moments she observed her pack-brothers and sisters emerge from the woods, running towards the house. Kira, orange eyes blazing, was in the lead grinning from ear to ear as she passed Erica. Derek and her betas were the last to exit the woods, meaning they were the furthest away when she howled. Allison and Rosalyn carried Connor and Juliet on their backs because the two youngest could not shift into wolf form, and there fore were not fast at running. Erica waited for them to near and walked with them to the Den.

"Alpha! Our home is super safe!" Raul said. "Derek showed us all the places we can go to hide from bad people, and places we go if you or our parents tell us we have to leave."

"That is very good." Erica said. "So he went through things to do when it's not safe for you?"

"Yep." Diego said. "Ally and Rosie are old enough to fight, so they don't have to hide when bad people are near. But we are too little to fight so sometimes we have to hide so no one can hurt us."

"Erica," Allison said. "I was thinking that once the pack starts training again, that Diego and Raul be taught with the rest of the betas and either myself or John can teach Julie and Connor to fight. Diego and Raul need to observe how wolves fight and learn their true strength, and Con and Julie don't have wolf powers, so they need to fight like a human."

"It's already covered Ally. John will begin teaching them self defense while we all train tomorrow. Raul and Diego will train with us adult wolves." Erica said. Allison's response was a nod. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Allison said. Erica sensed the lie, but before she could pry Rose spoke.

"She's overly tired. Being away from the majority of the pack all day took its toll. She needs to eat and rest."

"Rosie, don't tattle." Connor said, poking Rosalyn.

Allison smiled. "She is only looking out for my wellbeing Connor. But thank you for defending me handsome."

Connor blushed and hid his face in Rosalyn's neck. Everyone laughed at the display as they finally walked into the Den.

The Den was a flurry of activity. Everyone was setting places at the table, making sure there were enough places for all, and putting food out. Derek and Erica simply stood at the back door holding hands and watched the commotion going on in the kitchen and dining room.

She and Derek typically sat at opposite ends of the table, so she wanted to be near him as much as possible before splitting up for the meal and pack meeting.

"Are the gates locked?" Derek asked.

She nodded. "And ash-ed. They didn't give you any trouble did they? No chants of 'you're not my alpha. So I don't have to listen'?"

"No. Did my betas give you any trouble?"

"No more than they give you."

Derek grinned at that. "I'm starting to think that the one thing we don't have to worry about is our packs fitting together as one."

"No, we just have to worry about two groups of homicidal hunters converging on our town." Erica said before stopping herself. "Oh my god! I'm starting to sound like you_! I am a SourWolf_!"

All the adults in the pack laughed at her statement. Soon they all steeled down and took their seats. All except Juliet, who was staring at the wall.

"She's fine." Raul informed the concerned pack. "Usually she has visions when she sleeps, but sometimes it happens when she is awake."

Juliet soon came out of it and skipped to her seat at the table. Everyone sighed in relief and began fixing plates for themselves.

After a few minutes Erica heard Juliet ask a question. If she hadn't been sitting so close to Melissa and Juile, Erica wouldn't have heard over the loud conversations happening around the table. Juliet was whispering so quietly that Erica doubted that anyone but herself and Melissa heard. "Mama Mel? What is the FBI?"

"You know how your Daddy works for the Sheriff's Department? The FBI is sort of like that, but they fight crime in the entire country, not just here in Beacon County." Melissa answered in an equally hushed tone. "Why do you ask baby?"

"Because the FBI-people is coming." The little beta whispered back. "Do you know anyone in the FBI Mama Mel?"

Melissa's happy demeanor vanished and her body visibly tensed at the question. "Yes I do. He is Scott's biological Dad. He wasn't very nice to me or your brother, and then he left us."

Melissa had said these words louder, so everyone with supernatural hearing had heard them. Scott and Stiles eyes flashed at the mention of Scott's father and the Sheriff, who sat next to Mel and heard her speak asked Julie the next question. "What made you ask about the FBI and Scott's dad Julie?"

"Because in my vision, a man said '_My name is Agent McCall. I work for the FBI. I would like to ask you a few questions…' _is he another bad man?" Juliet asked concerned.

* * *

**AN: Thoughts? Questions? Constructive Criticism? Leave a review below or and ask on my tumblr.**

**Check out my writing tumblr (**hailhaleswriting**) Or visit **allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf ** for bonus info and updates on this fic and others.**

* * *

**Footnotes:**

*** The Council, will probably not be seen, so you wont have to remember names or species etc. Peter will be the Packs rep to The Council so any information they have to give will mostly be given through him.**

**^ A character named Bill is mentioned in chapter 3 of Teen She-Wolf. He was one of the kids that picked on Erica the most in High School. The only time he is mentioned by name is in chapter 3. His last name was never given. I only brought him in as a were-cat because I wanted to highlight Erica's growth from a teenaged girl with no friends being bullied incessantly, to an alpha werewolf who is no longer afraid of a boy that used to be her biggest bully.**


	8. Eight

**AN: another POV change in this chapter, it happens mid-chapter, as a heads up. Can you tell me if you hate these? I'll stop if you find them annoying, I just think a POV change once and a while will provide more depth to this story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine**

* * *

**Alpha She-Wolf**

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

"Because in my vision, a man said '_My name is Agent McCall. I work for the FBI. I would like to ask you a few questions…' _is he another bad man?"

Erica could feel everyone's eyes darting from her to Derek and back again. Her and Derek were staring at each other, having no clue on how to respond to the question.

Luckily for the alpha-pair, Scott broke the silence. "So my dad is coming back to town, Allison's ex-parents are coming to town… fantastic! Anyone else want to invite their problem causing relatives to Beacon Hills? What the hell could he possibly want?" He said slamming his fist on the table.

"Whatever it is, we will all get through this together." Allison told him, taking his right hand in hers as Isaac took his left hand. "We are a pack, the only family that truly matters anymore. My ex-parents and your dad? They don't matter, especially if they try to cause trouble for our real family."

This seemed to calm Scott and the rest of the table.

"We can't know what will happen, we just have to be prepared." Derek said and his eyes focused on the pups. "You four need to know that you don't have to talk to anyone you don't want to talk to; even if they are a police officer or FBI agent. You also need to know that they shouldn't talk to you without your parents permission, its illegal."

The pups nodded, looking serious, "Yes Alpha." They said.

"Also, its important to be aware who is around." Erica said to the pups. "You guys never really lived around humans I take it…and we may have some unwanted visitors to the Den if Agent McCall and the Argents are coming back to town. I need you to be super careful about saying things like 'alpha', 'pack' and 'human' when non-pack members are around."

"Yes Alpha." They responded.

Erica sighed, "Guys just call us Derek and Erica. I promise we wont see it as disrespectful; everyone calls us by our first names. It will be easier for you not to use the word 'alpha' around strangers if you are already calling us by our names."

"Okay, Erica…"Raul said hesitantly. "We'll do our best."

"That's all anyone asks of you, love." Sarah said kissing the boy on the forehead before turning back to the meal.

Slowly everyone began eating again and the tense energy faded from the room. The conversation had yet to start up again, but mostly because everyone was at a loss of what to say.

* * *

The meal finished quickly without the chatter and soon everyone was cleaning up or outside playing with the pups.

"You know what that yard could use? Playground equipment." Lydia said thoughtfully as she and Erica waited to begin drying the pots and pans. "A jungle gym, a slide, some monkey bars, a swing set; the works!"

"I'm not paying for it Lydia." Derek grumbled, handing her a newly clean pot.

Lydia glared at him, "Oh Dearest step-father of mine! You should purchase some playground equipment for my little brothers and their young pack-mates."

Peter laughed as he brought dirty dishes in from the dining room.

"Not fair!" Stiles said, glaring at Lydia. "Dad! Lydia is trying to buy the puppies' affection! Trying to steal Merida and Con-Man away with all that Hale money!"

John sighed from his place at the dishwasher machine, with his son. "For the last time Stiles, we are not giving her the middle name Merida."

"Well, Mom said she would think about it."

"She probably said it so you'd stop talking." Lydia said glaring back at Stiles.

"I'm watching you Martin." Stiles said, "I know your game, you wont make my Merida and Con-Man your little minions of evil."

Erica snorted, the fake and overly dramatic competition Stiles and Lydia shared was beyond hysterical. Apparently in high school they tied for valedictorian, and had been out to prove which of them was superior ever sense.

Erica decided to say something because their stare off wasn't getting anything accomplished. So she commented on the awesome nickname Stiles had given his new sister. "Stiles you are so right! If Merida was a real girl, not an animated princess she'd look just like Juliet!"

"Finally someone with some sense!" Stiles said, "Maybe you could order your newest beta to teach Julie archery?"

Erica shook her head, and narrowed her eyes. "That's unethical Stiles. If Allison wants to she can, I wont order her to do something."

Allison laughed, walking in from outside. "I'll teach her."

Stiles picked up Allison and kissed her square on the mouth. "You are my favorite sister-in-law!"

"She's your only sister-in-law." Isaac said, as he and Peter brought in the last of the dirty dishes.

"Sh, Isaac. She doesn't know that." Stiles stage whispered.

"Yes, I do." Allison said rolling her eyes. "Now get those dishes done, we're watching a movie tonight since we didn't last night."

As they continued with the chore of dishes, Malia came in looking for antiseptic to clean some healing claw marks on her arms.

"You okay Lia?" Derek asked his cousin when she came back from the hall bathroom with a bottle of antiseptic and a towel.

"Yep. I was just play-fighting with my new little brothers. They fight dirty." She said with pride in her voice and a large smile on her face. "They can defend themselves if they need to."

"Well, that's good news. Let's hope they never have to." Erica said.

Malia nodded and hoisted herself to sit on the counter, and began to clean up her arms. "So Dad," She said, not looking up from her work, "Are you ever going to tell us about this council meeting?"

Peter nodded and looked toward Derek and Erica. "There really isn't that much to report. I introduced myself, they introduced themselves, and the Doc told them about his conversation with you. I must say there were really not many surprises on who is supernatural in this town. Except one or two. Did you know that the Greenberg* Family is one of the Fae families in town? "

Everyone looked as surprised as Peter was. Erica was unfamiliar with the Greenberg family, but knew their youngest child was in the same high school class as Stiles, Scott, Lydia and Jackson.

"So no problems?" Derek asked.

"Not really. The representative of the Druid community seemed a bit aggressive to me. But those Druids always seem to have their own agenda…no offense Mini-Deaton." Peter said.

Braeden, who had just finished a call to her aunt, simply shrugged. "None taken. Who was it that you spoke with?" Braeden asked.

"Isis Lane. Why?"

"Well, that explains it. Her mother's was a Wiccan, but her father was a Shaman, so try as she might to be completely Wiccan, Isis is of a Shaman bloodline. Cursed." Braeden said looking down at in sadness. "When I was thirteen I got the choice to train as an Emissary or chose to take another Druidic path. Shamans do not get to choose their path…they have to gather information in case whomever they are bound to asks something of them. They live in constant fear of being hunted down by the very people they are bound to assist."

"Excuse me, but would some one mind telling me the differences in Druids? I'm a bit lost." Lydia asked. "I thought that there were two groups of Druid. Emissary and a Darach."

"No, there are many different kinds…" Braeden said. "I guess I could clarify some terminology… Druid is our species, and is a term encompasses all the different types of my people. We devote ourselves to knowledge. We all tend to be a self-serving and secretive people, and most of us will not provide information unless asked a direct question, especially if we have no loyalty to you. We have a genetic ability to tap into the unlocked potential of the human brain and perform magic. The Darach are the Dark Druid, the ones who use their power for evil, or vengeance. The Emissary is a Druid bound to assist wolf packs, The Wicca are Druids that serve nature and family only, The Shaman is a Druid whose ancestors were enslaved and were bound by blood against their will to serve those that hunt supernatural creatures. Their curse is so strong that it lasts for generations. It can only be undone if the head of the Hunter family dissolves the bond in a ritual. The problem is that most hunting families do not realize that their ancestors forced the binding; they truly think that these people want to help them with their hunts, that they are their friends."

The room was silent, as everyone continued with their tasks, and digested what Braeden had told them.

Peter broke the silence. "Braeden, do you happen to know what family Isis' family is bound to serve?"

"A family named Wallace. Aunt Marin used to date Keene, Isis' brother, he used to say that there is hope the curse will break soon because the last Wallace moved away years ago when she married. If she didn't renew the curse with her husband, they would be free when she died because her children would not be Wallaces."

"Shit." Derek said. "Peter, tell me exactly what she wanted to know and how you responded."

"She was really insistent on knowing who of the pack is wolf, who is human and who is something else. I didn't tell her anything, I simply said that I would be happy to tell them everything once I was given a list of everyone in town that was supernatural." Peter said. "What's wrong?"

Allison sighed. "Thirty years ago this fall, Victoria Wallace of Beacon Hills was married to Christopher Argent. The Lane family is bound to my mother. I thought her friendship with Isis' older sister seemed odd. My mom said they were the best of friends growing up and Annie seemed angry at my mom for moving back to Beacon Hills."

Everyone in the room gasped.

Erica groaned. "So you are telling me, that the Argents are getting information about the pack from a druid that is on The Council."

"Its likely that we are safe." Braeden said in a reassuring tone. "The Lane's resent the binding. They wont exactly be forthcoming with information, probably only giving information to Victoria if she asks for it. I don't think the Argents even know they are Druids, so they probably wont ask supernatural questions. They would just want to know who is associated with Derek."

The room let out a sigh.

"Regardless," Derek said, "Be careful about what you say in meetings about our pack. And if someone gives you trouble tell them that your Alpha ordered you not to because of a Shaman."

Peter nodded. "Done and Done, my dearest nephew."

As Erica dried the last of the dishes and everyone finished the chore of after dinner clean up, she called the pack members that were still running around outside in.

"That's it!" She exclaimed. "We are watching that movie! This day has been too long and I need a laugh."

Everyone seemed to agree, as they made their way to the theater room.

* * *

Juliet's Mommy had taught her since the day she could understand words about the family gift. The importance of keeping it a secret from people that weren't family, and how to use it appropriately once she got it.

Mommy had known Juliet would inherit the gift when she died and it would happen at a very young age. Connor would get upset when he overheard their Mommy telling Juliet about their new Mommy, Daddy and brothers. It upset Juliet too, because she loved her Mommy very, very much. Connor was a baby, he didn't understand that there was nothing they could do about their future but prepare for it. The future was coming no matter what; it was not something that could be stopped. The Gift gave you clues about the future to help you prepare for the future.

Her Mommy taught her about the importance of telling the difference between dreams, memories, visions and real life. It was very confusing to understand when she didn't have the family gift. The Gift would never show you something that could be prevented or changed; a vision was typically a tiny snapshot of time and was seen in black and white. Dreams were…smoky…hard for the mind to hang onto, and most of the time you would only remember the feelings the dream caused when you woke. Some people without the Gift could remember dreams when they woke, but Juliet could not, her mind was too busy holding onto visions, memories and engaging in real life to remember her dreams. Real life was loud and fun and had the people you loved in it, she loved real life the best.

Memories were the most confusing for her; they were the worst, her least favorite thing. She had no trouble telling a vision from real life but memories were different. Memories could be visions, or dreams but were mostly images in your mind of things that happened in real life. She had a hard time telling when a vision was still a vision and sometimes she slipped up.

When Alpha Erica took them in, Juliet experienced with a vengeance how hard telling visions from memories was. It was one of the most difficult days she lived through so far. Ever since her Mommy had died she had flashes of her new pack. She never told Connor, or Diego, or Raul about it because she new that surprises were the best part of life for people without the family gift. She simply told them while they were running from the bad men that they would be happy and safe one day. The Hale Pack was going to be their new home she saw it before they ran south. She saw Rosie save them first and then a flood of happy images followed. She saw how happy her brother, Diego, and Raul would be, she knew all the names of her new pack and already loved them before she had met them. But she knew they were visions until the first time she saw Erica.

Now that she had met Erica, were all her visions memories? No it seemed not, Erica didn't recognize them, Derek didn't see Raul and Diego as his cousins yet, Malia didn't see Raul and Diego as her brothers and her big brother Scotty saw nothing but injured pups when looking at herself and Connor. Juliet wanted to cry but didn't. She was the only one that knew. They were visions, they had not happened yet.

They had been with the pack for a bit more than a whole day and she had slipped up lots; calling Scotty her brother before he was her brother, calling Aunt Sarah her aunt within minutes of meeting her, staring at Daddy and Mama Mel like the lost puppy she was after Alpha Erica bit her and more… She was thankful her pack was nice and didn't want to give her away because of her gift, they thought it was cute and supported her when she messed up and was mad at herself.

She had been very upset after what happened at dinner, she got her first vision since being with the pack, so she knew it was important to tell an adult about, and she was glad she could speak about it because it confused her. The man looked like her brother Scotty, had a shiny badge like Daddy, and had a last name the same as one of her new last names; also, he kind of scared her. So she asked Mama Mel about him and it upset everyone. She had ruined dinner, after her vision her brothers and Daddy were angry, her Mama was teary, and everyone else was worried.

Juliet was quiet after dinner as they played and during the movie about talking blocks^. The pack had started laughing again and was no longer tense but she was scared to open her mouth and laugh with them in fear she would ruin it again. She refused to let go of her Daddy during the whole movie, afraid that he and Mama Mel didn't want her anymore because she made her new pack and family sad earlier.

That night at bedtime, after Mama Mel and Daddy tucked her into bed in her pretty new room, Juliet had her first nightmare.

She woke of screaming for Mama Mel and Daddy to save her, to come back, not to leave her with the bad people, that she would be better. She clung to them when they came rushing into the room and refused to let them go.

"Please, I'll be better. I'll stop having visions that upset the pack, please don't give me away to the bad hunter man. I'll be good." She begged, shaking.

"Julie, we aren't going to give you up because of your visions…" Daddy said. "Yes, it upset us to know that Agent McCall is coming back, but that's because of him, it has nothing to do with you."

"I'm glad you saw him coming." Mama Mel said. "It gives us all time to prepare. It would have he could have hurt our feeling worse if he surprised us."

"He was mean to Mama and Scotty**? And you are mad because he might hurt their feelings again and be coming to hurt our pack?" Julie asked, trying to clarify the situation. "You aren't mad at me?"

"No one is mad at you sweetie." Mama Mel told her. "Is this why you were so quiet tonight? You thought everyone was mad at you?"

Juliet nodded.

Daddy sighed at this. "I should have seen that. Stiles was just like you when he was little; hyperactive, independent and happy. But when something was wrong he blamed himself and got very quiet and very clingy." Daddy said as he tried to loosen the grip Juliet had on them.

It took an hour of reassuring for Juliet to believe that it was just a scary dream, and no one was giving her up; everyone loved her especially her Mama Mel and Daddy.

She learned that nightmares were made from your fears and worries, and they were scarier than anything she had ever seen in a dream, vision or real life. It was then Juliet decided she'd rather be confused on memories any day…nightmares were her new least favorite thing in the world.

* * *

Erica shot up out of bed, sensing that something was wrong.

The trouble was she had been fast asleep, and had no clue what had woke her. She looked next to her and saw that Derek was fine; he was snoring in bed next to her. It wasn't Derek's panic that woke her, and since he was not awake it wasn't one of his betas in distress.

She took a deep breath and searched her connections with her betas for the answer when she found what woke her. An overwhelming terror was coming from her link with Juliet. Her tiny beta was in distress and the alpha in her felt the need to protect the beta.

Erica leaped out of the bed and headed to the door.

"Erica?" Derek mumbled, noticing her absence next to him and waking up. "Why are you leaving the bedroom naked?"

Erica looked down at herself and fought the urge to blush. After the pack movie and before going to bed, she and Derek had spent a significant amount of time _reuniting_ with each other. They were both still nude. Apparently her panicking beta was enough to make her forget her nudity.

Erica went towards the bathroom door where her robe hung. "Juliet is frightened, she needs help." She stated explaining her haste to leave the room.

"I feel her panic babe, but kids have bad dreams all the time." Derek said, sitting up in bed. " I know you feel the urge to help, but she's you beta not your child. Let her parents parent her."

Erica stilled. He did have a point. _Damn him._ "What if it's a vision? What if she needs me?" Erica said, trying to find a good reason for her to run outside, break into the McCall-Stilinski house and comfort the tiny Seer.

"Then she'll will tell Melissa and John and they will tell us in the morning." He said raising his damned eyebrow at her. "If she needs her alpha, they'll call you. But, she's a traumatized kid, its most likely a nightmare. Nightmares are a parents job."

Erica sighed and took off her robe, throwing it violently to the floor in an impressively childish gesture. "I hate it when you are reasonable!" She hissed climbing back into bed and his arms before sighing again "This sucks, she's in pain and I can't help."

"Welcome to having your own pack, my love." He muttered, laying back down and closing his eyes. "There are many problems we can't solve, and we have to trust that mates, family members and pack siblings can handle it."

"You are loving this, you asshole." She growled. "My anxiety for Juliet is amusing to you!"

Derek let out a laugh. "Of course it is amusing. How many times have you woken up to find me pacing, trying to keep myself from leaving the room to comfort a pack member who had had a nightmare and taunted me for being a big softie? Revenge is so very sweet, sweetheart."

"I hate you." Erica muttered, cuddling up to him and pulling the covers tight around her.

"I love you too, go back to sleep."

* * *

It seemed like only minutes from the time she had fallen back asleep to the time that Cora came busting into her room demanding that she and Derek 'get their asses up'.

"Marin should be here in fifteen minutes and you two idiots slept through breakfast." Cora said, using a stick to poke her and Derek awake. "There is no way you are weaseling your way out of moving duty."

"Cora! Go away!" Derek yelled. "Where the hell did you get that thing?"

"We are surrounded by woods Derek. Use your brain for once big brother." Cora yelled back just as loud, focusing her poking more towards Derek now.

Fantastic, looks like she was about to witness another timeless Hale-Sibling fight. "I'm not getting out of this bed until you leave." Erica said, burrowing herself further under the covers.

"Oh please, I've seen it all before." Cora said, continuing with the poking. Erica simply ignored it; she was far too tired to deal with Hale dramatics.

"Go away Cora."

"Bite me Derek."

Derek, taking his sister's remark to heart, leapt from the bed and lunged in the direction that Cora was in. Erica sat up and watched as her mate and his sister wrestled on her bedroom floor like they were children.

"Holy Crap! Naked Alphas! Hide the children!" Stiles yelled as he walked passed the room and saw what was happening.

"Stiles!" Erica yelled. "Hand me my robe please?"

Stiles eyed the fighting Hale siblings warily then looked at the place she had thrown her robe last night. "Nope, sorry Puppy. You are so on you own in this." He said, making his way downstairs.

Erica sighed and smiled fondly at the scene in front of her, before running as fast as she could to the closet to change. It was so typical for a Sunday morning at _Wolf's Run_.

* * *

Erica had anticipated that moving Marin and Rosalyn into their home would take the entire morning, but with the whole pack helping it only took an hour. Leaving plenty of time before lunch for everyone to pitch in putting together the play ground equipment that had been miraculously been ordered overnight.

Lydia looked far too pleased with herself as she ordered her pack brothers and sisters about, assigning everyone a piece of playground equipment to assemble and put into place in the little clearing between the pool house and the garage. Lydia had declared that the space was not living up to its potential, and that Stiles, Malia and Jackson could use the parking spaces on the other side of the garage instead of parking in a space not designated for parking.

Erica and Derek were assigned to swing set duty with Peter and Sarah. Derek and Peter were both frantically looking through their banking info on their phones, checking to see if Lydia had used their cards to purchase the equipment. The price kind of worried Erica as well, because by the looks of things Lydia bought everything a kid could possibly want to play on. They would be out here for days putting this stuff together safely.

"Where did she get the money?" Derek asked. "It wasn't from the pack accounts."

"Then I imagine she used her father's credit card." Sarah said with a smile. "The man was an absentee father when Lydia was growing up. But now that he is remarried he feels guilty. All Lydia has to do is call and ask and he'd buy her anything she wants."

Peter and Derek sighed in relief. "Sarah, I love you, but your daughter has a bit of a shopping problem." Peter said.

Sarah shrugged. "The funny thing is she rarely shops for herself. She loves buying things for others and making them happy the most. I can't find it in my heart to discourage making others happy."

"Mom, I promise this is the last thing I buy the pups!" Lydia said, catching the last part of the conversation. "I promise I'll stop spoiling them, I just got a little too excited."

"It's okay Lydi." Sarah said, "Go apologies to Mel and John though? I had no problem with you buying things for Raul and Diego, but you may have overstepped with Julie and Connor."

Lydia nodded and walked over to the where John and Scott were assembling a seesaw while Melissa read the directions.

After Lydia left, Erica spotted Marin put her hand in the air and made all the parts of the monkey bars fly into place and secure themselves to the ground.

"Hey! No magic!" Jackson yelled when he saw.

"I'm sorry did you want to spend the day putting this together? Or did you want me to say a few incantations so we can have an early lunch and begin training?" Marin asked dryly.

At her suggestion, everyone stepped back and walked a safe distance from the parts of the unfinished playground. Marin gathered all the instructions in her hands and said her incantations. Within ten minutes the playground looked like it belonged in a community park, not in their backyard.

The pups laughed and started to test the equipment, most of the pack joined them in their fun.

"Good thing you made the whole playground werewolf proof huh Aunt Marin?" Braden asked.

"I did that because I didn't want the children to have to restrict their abilities while playing." Marin said watching the adults make use of the new playground as much as the children were. "I did not anticipate the adults making use of this."

Erica laughed, while grabbing Braeden and Marin's hands and dragging them over towards the larger slide. "Welcome to the Hale Pack, Marin. Now lets go play!"

* * *

The pack ended up skipping an official training session that afternoon.

While lunch was being prepared a few mini-training sessions took place for the pups; John and Marin started Self Defense 101 with Juliet and Connor whileDerek and Peter sparred with Raul and Diego. But after the meal was eaten training was forgotten. Everyone else opted to either play on the new playground or prepare for their busy weeks.

Erica, as an alpha, should have been annoyed at the easy dismissal of training, but seeing her pack happy and laughing was more important to her at the moment. So she simply demanded her mate push her on the swings while she listened to her pack play.

Marin was next to her on the swings and was studying the alpha-pair closely. "I like this feeling." Marin said, sounding serene. "Having a pack is nice."

"It is." Derek said. "Can I stop pushing you now?" he asked Erica.

"Why do you have somewhere to be?" She asked him.

Derek held up his phone so she could see what he saw. The security app had popped up and was showing the feed of the front gate. Two SUVs full of people were sitting at the end of the driveway. The man in the lead SUV was looking at the camera.

"Derek? Are they the…?" Erica asked, and she felt Marin look at the app over her shoulder.

"Should I hide the pups in my house or should I show them to the bunker?" Marin asked in worry. "They shouldn't see the pups. These people shoot first."

"The Stilinski house should be fine. Ward it against intruders in case they decide to snoop." Derek told the druid.

"Derek…" Erica said the pit in her stomach growing.

Her mate simply howled, which caused the whole pack to spring into action. The pups ran for the McCall-Stilinski house, and everyone else began assembling in front of herself and Derek awaiting orders.

_Argents._

Erica wanted to bang her head against a wall. They couldn't have _one day _as a pack where everything was uneventful and peaceful?

* * *

**AN: Thoughts? Questions? Leave a review below or and ask on my tumblr.**

**Check out my tumblr (**hailhales** or **hailhaleswriting**) Or visit **allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf ** for bonus info and updates on this fic and others.**

* * *

**Footnotes:**

*** I had to throw in Greenberg, I could not help myself.**

**^Juliet refers to a talking blocks movie… they watched "The Lego Movie" as a pack film because the kids were with them.**

**** McCall was a drunk in canon, I'm making so he was verbally abusive, and Melissa worked up the courage to kick him out after the whole 'throw Scott down the stairs thing' (yeah, I'm keeping that event in here, only Scott remembers it happening.)**


	9. Nine

**AN: Please read the "AN" at the end of this chapter. It has some important info about chapter 10.**

**So if the story were divided into two Acts, this would mark the end of Act One.**

**Timeline Help: Reminder that chapter one began on a Thursday, this chapter takes us from that Sunday, all the way to the next Thursday. Making the events of Act One take place over one week.**

**I hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine**

* * *

**Alpha She-Wolf**

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

Once the pack was gathered everyone started talking at once.

"We aren't letting them in are we?" Scott asked.

"We can't just ignore them, they might turn out to be allies against this Maxwell guy." Cora said.

"They are hunters! They hate what we are, they would not hesitate shooting any of us!" Peter growled.

"If we let them in, we can't give them a clue about who is a wolf or not, that's one of the questions Isis wanted to know…" Braeden said.

"They only know about Scott and Isaac being Bitten. Everyone else is just under suspicion…" Allison added.

"Allison is so new, is she loses control of her shift while they are here, they might start shooting." Isaac said worriedly.

"Why should we let them in, that gate will hold up against them! They can't break in." Jackson stated.

"We haven't restocked our supplies in a few weeks. We aren't prepared for a lockdown or a siege." Malia told the group. "We have to let them in."

"It's stupidity to let them in!" Danny said.

"It's definitely not smart to leave them out there either." Lydia added. "We automatically make them our enemies."

"You want to be allies with those people? Do you not remember Gerard trying to exterminate us this time last year? How Victoria looked regretful when it was decided we hadn't done anything wrong and they couldn't kill us because it was against their code?" Stiles asked. "If you ask me they can rot out there for all I care."

After that it was hard to tell who was saying what, even with supernatural hearing. They all were yelling their opinions as loud as they could. She supposed this is why packs had Alphas, Elders, Second and Thirds; because everyone in this pack (werewolf or not) was so stubborn and opinionated, they would never reach a consensus and get things done if there wasn't some sort of hierarchy. Derek and Erica looked at each other, silently trying to decide who was going to shut their panicking pack up.

Erica blinked first, losing the staring contest…

"EVERYONE SHUT IT!" She yelled. Her mate's reaction was a slight smile, a raised eyebrow and lust…_Really Derek? My screaming at our pack turns you on? AT A TIME LIKE THIS! _He was beyond ridiculous.

The pack however had a different reaction, they all swiftly stopped talking over each other and muttered "Yes, Alpha" before quieting.

Now that everyone wasn't thinking out loud she could finally hear herself think. She nodded to Derek, letting him go first.

"We have to let them in, but we have to be smart about it." He said in a thoughtful tone. "This is our home; we can control the situation. We knew they would come. John and Melissa, please go in your home with the pups. We don't need them thinking that the two of you are wolves, they might show up when you are at work and attack. If the pups hear our howls and say they have to run, get them to the bunker ASAP. "

John and Melissa nodded and walked towards their home. Erica watched them retreat and gave the next order "We need to keep them on the driveway. Core, can you place three or four cars blocking the end of the driveway? We will all stand in front of them. That way if they start shooting we will have cover." Cora nodded and dragged her mate and the Twins to follow her to the garage. "Marin, Bray is there a spell that will protect us from their guns?"

"This property is warded with every protection ward my brother and I could perform. As long as you are a member of the Hale Pack, no man-made weapon can be used against you on this land." Marin said. Erica had forgotten that Marin and Alan Deaton helped Derek plan the security measures of the property and altered the memories of the builders so they did not remember a thing about the underground network of tunnels they built.

Their home was safe; the Argents could not hurt them here with their hunting equipment. This meeting was about a strategy moving forward. They wanted to be friendly with the Argents, without revealing all their secrets to them (and hopefully getting the Argents to reveal a few of their secrets to the pack).

"I can't be standing next to you when we meet them. They can't know the pack has two alphas." Erica said. "It would be foolish to reveal our pack hierarchy in any way, if they turn on us they will know who to kill first, we have to confuse them as much as possible so they are unsure on our hierarchy."

Derek looked upset that she wouldn't be by his side but nodded. "I know, you and Rose need to be holding onto Allison, making sure she doesn't shift. Cora and Malia will flank you and Marin, Bray, Sarah, Kira and Lydia will be behind you…. I need all the rest of you standing in front of them and directly behind me."

All the women started protesting this arrangement, claiming that they could defend themselves and didn't need their pack brothers protecting them. Except for Erica and Allison.

"Its what will work the best," Allison said, "Victoria will be too focused on the chauvinistic display to realize that you all are standing in front of the highest ranking members of the pack aside from Derek, and the non-wolf pack members."

Erica nodded in agreement and everyone else thought about it for a moment. The strategy was brilliant. If they stood like this the Argents would think that one of the male pack members were Derek's Second and Third, and they would not suspect another Alpha if they made it look like they were all comforting a distraught Allison upon seeing her old family. "She's right, they'll never guess our structure if we present ourselves like this and make it look like we are comforting Ally, instead of keeping her from shifting."

Everyone reluctantly agreed to the reasoning.

"Okay," Erica sighed. "Let's not keep our guests waiting any longer."

With that everyone ran towards the front of the den to get into position.

Erica looked up at Derek and grabbed his hand. "Ready?"

"I wish you could be next to me. I'm not looking forward to facing these people alone." He said squeezing her hand.

"You are not alone. We are right behind you. We'll be observing each one of the Argent hunters while you chat up Chris making sure nothing fishy is happening, and I'll be keeping our pack in check. All you have to do is get them away from our home as quickly as possible without tipping our hand." She told him. "Hey, I'd rather be right next to you too. But the last thing they need to know is that you have a mate. Especially right now when we don't know if they are working with Maxwell or not."

"You are right." He sighed and nodded. "Let's do this."

They began walking hand-in-hand towards the front of the house. Derek let go of her hand when the reached the pack (that had lined up already) and pushed the button on his phone that unlocked the front gate.

Erica sighed and took her place between Allison and Cora, watching as the two vehicles rolled down the drive.

She looked behind her pack, making sure that Cora had placed their own vehicles close enough so if the hunters started shooting they could get behind them quickly with minimal damage. She did. They would be fine.

As the vehicles got closer her anxiety spiked. She took a deep breath in attempt to calm down. If the pack sensed her nervousness they would get nervous. But the closer the vehicles came the stronger the smell of gunpowder and wolfsbane got, and all Erica could think of was Rosalyn and Connor lying on their gurneys, half dead from wolfsbane poisoning.

Erica felt Allison growl at her side and squeezed her betas hand harder. "Don't do it Ally. We will be fine. This will be over soon." She whispered soothingly.

"All of you stay calm." She whispered to the pack, "Follow Derek's lead in this, and try not to give anything away. These people are not our friends. At best they aren't our enemies."

The whole pack could hear her commands; even the non-wolves standing directly behind her, the only people who couldn't hear her were the humans getting out of the cars with their heads held high.

Erica had never met a hunter before but she knew of these people, these murders. Hunters travelled around and killed anything supernatural. They had a code_ 'we hunt those that hunt us'_ but they didn't always use it, most of the time killing anything they deemed dangerous. They had the twisted view that werewolves were the monsters and hunters were the good people. But, it was hunters that decimated innocent packs everywhere leaving countless pups orphans, not wolves. Erica was the first to admit that there were bad packs out there; packs like the Thorne Pack* that needed to be stopped, but The Argents saw the Hale Pack on the same level as the Thorne Pack. They were all just wild beasts that needed to be put down.

"Hello Derek." The leader of the hunters said.

"Chris. What a surprise to see you." Derek said, his voice taking on a cold tone that Erica had rarely heard her mate use. It was a detached tone that made her skin crawl; a far cry from the loving, sarcastic, caring man she fell for. This tone oozed the stereotype of the unfeeling, power-hungry, alpha male. She saw a few of Argent's men step back slightly as Derek spoke, their hearts beginning to race.

The red headed woman standing next to Chris Argent was unaffected by Derek's tone and was standing slightly behind her husband taking careful looks at each member of the Hale Pack. Erica held back a smile. This woman was doing the same thing she was, let the men talk while the she gathered information on their targets without the leader noticing. To bad that the Hale Pack had two leaders and Victoria was caught. Erica did not miss the puzzled look on Victoria's face at their stance, and watched the woman as she tried to discern which of the boys was standing nearest to the Alpha. She probably was thinking whoever was closer was the Second in command, but everyone stood in a straight line and was an equal distance behind Derek. Erica wanted to cackle at seeing the woman's nostrils flare in annoyance.

One Point Hale Pack.

"By the amount of time it took for you to open the gates, I figured it was a surprise we were coming back into town." Chris said, a slight smile on his face.

"We were out in the woods at bit, it takes awhile to walk. We only move as fast as our humans can, it would be unfair to do otherwise." Derek said. "It is surprise you are back, may I ask why? No offense, but we were all quite happy to see you leave."

"My wife missed home. She grew up here you know, and our daughter lives here." Chris said looking towards Allison.

Allison's eyes yellowed in anger at this point, but luckily she had placed her head in Rose's shoulder, pretending to cry but really using the scent of her pack sister to anchor her to human form. Rosalyn was glaring at Chris, specifically at one of the men behind him.

"_Alpha, one of those men, he was one of the ones in the woods… the ones that were chasing after the puppies and shot me" _Rosalyn whispered gripping Allison tighter, this time to keep herself from shifting.

"You don't have a daughter." Derek said. "You gave her up, all official records say she was never yours. You did that. So please tell me the reason you are here besides tormenting one of my pack members. Does it have anything to do with that man behind you that was involved in an attack on my beta on Friday afternoon?"

Chris and Victoria looked taken aback.

Point Two Hale Pack.

"Yes, Jason here worked for a man named Henry Maxwell. He has since defected once he found out they were hunting were-children that have committed no crimes. He is helping us take down Maxwell." Victoria said.

"And what was my betas crime besides trying to help children in danger?" Derek said, his voice getting deadlier. "What does this Maxwell have against innocent pups?"

"I'm sorry." The man, Jason, said stepping forward, looking to Derek and to Rose. "We killed their mothers, Henry told us they were responsible for some murders in the Seattle area. I had no clue it wasn't true I swear. When we saw you in the woods, we were told you must a pack mate to the ones we just killed if you were defending the pups, and that you were responsible for the murders too."

Derek let out a growl and Erica knew his eyes flashed red by the look on the hunter's faces. "Do not address any of my pack. From where I stand you are the murderers. You are the monsters." He told Jason as the man jumped back, and Erica wanted to laugh at the smell of urine in the air. "The only reason we let you on our land is because Chris helped us last year against Gerard and I felt like we owed him the opportunity to hear his explanation."

"We want the opportunity to stop Henry before he comes after you for harboring the pups." Chris told Derek.

"If he attacks first, we will defend ourselves." Derek replied, neither confirming nor denying the existence of the pups to the Argents. "You have five days to find him and end him before I start looking."

Chris nodded and signaled his men back to the vehicles. "Fair enough." He said, "As a courtesy, you should know that we intend to stay in town once Maxwell has been handled. And if you or your pack steps a toe out of line we will not hesitate to kill you all."

"My pack has never murdered any innocent person in cold blood. It seems that the hunters we've encountered are the ones with that urge. Gerard, Kate, and now another deranged hunter named Maxwell…when will you realize that the real monsters might be looking you in the mirror?" Derek fired back. "Your threats don't scare me Argent. Now get off my property."

The high and mighty demeanor that Victoria and Chris Argent had seemed to deflate at Derek's words, as they returned to their vehicles quickly. No one moved until the vehicles were out of the gates and Derek pressed the button locking them.

Erica ran to her mate and hugged him. "You did great, babe." She told him.

He kissed the top of her head and sighed. "What was your assessment?" he asked.

"Victoria was frustrated at our stance, she couldn't figure us out. None off the goons have been with them for long; they were too twitchy to be as well trained as Chris and Victoria are. They were all terrified of you and amazed at the size of our pack. They were also hiding something; a few of them had a small smile on their faces when Chris mentioned us stepping out of line…they know something we don't" Erica told him, before breaking the hug and turning to her pack. "Did I miss something?"

The pack had arranged itself more comfortably. They typically didn't arrange themselves according to status during meals and meetings. So the fake hierarchy they set up for the Argent meet had everyone uncomfortable. They had all scattered and rearranged to form a semi-circle around Derek and Erica; a much more soothing arrangement for everyone involved.

"Not that I could tell." Cora said. "But your right I do get the sense they know about something we don't."

"The only thing we can do is be on our guards." Derek said, "Best case scenario, they take care of our Maxwell problem and leave us alone."

"Nephew, when has the best case scenario ever happened?" Peter asked.

"It doesn't hurt to be cautiously optimistic, Dad." Malia said.

"Okay." Sarah sighed, "I say we all have ourselves a pool party, and dinner so we can decompress before our week starts. I'll let John and Mel know we are in the clear."

Everyone nodded; most of the pack started school in the morning, Rosalyn started her new job, and everyone else had to go back to work. It was also Allison's first day out in the world as a wolf. Tomorrow would be a busy day indeed.

"Allison," Erica said holding the beta back as Derek and the rest of the pack made their way to their rooms for their swimsuits. "You could barely handle your shift when the Argents were here, do you want to risk it at the school? There is no harm taking the week off, I had to when I was first turned. You can help Marin watch over the pups."

Allison shook her head. "I have packmates in all three of my lectures tomorrow, Isaac and Scott had a schedule drawn up for someone to be with me at all times, just in case I need an anchor, even when I'm at work. I should be fine. The only thing that had me shifting is that they were still referring to me as their daughter."

Erica was skeptical. "If you are sure…"

"I am, Erica. Let me do this. I'll come home the second I feel it its not going to work."

* * *

What remained of Sunday evening passed blissfully, and the next thing Erica knew it was Monday morning and _Wolf's Run_ was bustling with activity. Breakfast was burning, people were falling asleep where they stood, notebooks and textbooks were flying, people kept spilling on their outfits and a five year old was screaming in the middle of the dining room at the top of her lungs.

The "foolproof" schedule that they had worked out for childcare was thrown out when Marin got a call during breakfast about a counseling job at the elementary school. Her old position at the high school had been filled but they were in desperate need of someone at the elementary school to start as soon as possible. The pups wouldn't start school for another week and now that Marin couldn't watch them some rearranging had to be done.

Peter and Derek, called into work immediately, opting to work from home. They could do that since they were the bosses. This did not please Juliet at all; spending her day with 'icky boys' was not a priority. She was even less pleased when she heard the plans for the day consisted of shopping for school supplies for the pups and a restock of the Den's pantry and cupboards (which was running dangerously low). Raul and Diego seemed excited at the news they were spending the day with their adoptive father and cousin, and Connor looked torn between disagreeing with Juliet and behaving himself.

Melissa and John had left for their early shifts by the time their new daughter began her tantrum, so as Juliet's alpha Erica was forced to step in.

"Stop." Erica said in her alpha tone, and Juliet reluctantly obeyed. "If you promise to behave until lunchtime for Peter and Derek, I'll come and pick you up and you can spent the rest of the day with me. But understand I can only do this for today, because I only have one class, the rest of the week you have to stay with whatever pack-mate is not busy, got it?"

Juliet had nodded her agreement enthusiastically.

The whole room sighed in relief once the tantrum was over and proceeded to get ready for the day. Mondays were the busiest days for most of them, everyone except Erica was scheduled to be somewhere between the hours of eight and three, with no one having enough free time to babysit. So, the morning proceeded in the same rushed, organized chaos it had before Juliet's banshee impression; with the added drama of no one being able to find their keys.

Everyone was in their cars and out the gate by eight o'clock. Erica was nervous that she would not make it to her class on time.

* * *

She did end up making her lecture on time, but the professor ended up being ten minutes late, and decided that meant he should lecture for fifteen minutes after class was supposed to end. The lecture hall was full with first- year students, who were afraid of telling a professor they went over, and the only thing that shut the man up was the professor for the next lecture barging in the room telling him that the next class started soon.

She called Derek asking where he wanted her to meet them.

"We're in the parking lot, Peter is putting Juliet and Connor's carseats in the backseat of your truck." He said. "Connor refuses to go anywhere without Juliet."

"How does everyone have a key to my truck?" She mused before hanging up the phone.

Erica walked to the parking lot and saw Diego and Raul chasing Juliet around her truck, Connor sat patiently on Derek's shoulders looking exasperated while Derek smiled.

Once she arrived at the vehicle Peter emerged from the backseat. "Okay, carseats are in." He said giving a glare to the running children. "They have been like this all morning."

Derek's smile was a full-blown grin at this point. "Welcome to fatherhood Uncle." He said getting Connor down from his shoulders and handing him to Erica.

Connor was the most easy-going of the pups; he loved cuddles, playing and being held. "Hi Erica." The little boy sighed wrapping his arms around her. "We did lots today." He sighed as she settled him on her hip.

"No we didn't." Diego said, as the chasing stopped. "We only did school shopping Erica, we barely did anything. But Peter and Derek are taking us to do guy things now that you are taking Julie and Con with you."

Erica opened her car door and threw her backpack on the front seat."Really. Guy things?" She said smirking towards a guilty looking Derek and Peter. "I thought you boys were going to stock the pantry?"

"We're going to the sporting goods store later. We need some supplies for the bunker and the armory. Malia wasn't exaggerating when she said we weren't prepared for a siege." Derek said. "We are calling it guy things because it is what got my new cousins to get excited about helping."

Erica laughed and placed Connor in her back seat fastening him in the blue carseat with a 'C' on it. "Do you guys need help?"

"No, we're making trips. And most of the pack will join us when they are out of class or work." Peter said, herding his sons towards his car. "We're heading home to unload the school stuff and get the Van."

Derek leaned down to kiss Erica before walking towards his uncle's car.

"Gross." Came from Juliet who was now standing next to Erica with a disgusted look on her face.

Erica rolled her eyes and picked up her little beta, helping her into the truck. Juliet then climbed past her brother and began fastening herself in the green carseat with a 'J' on it.

"Do you need help with that Julie?" Erica asked.

"Nope." She said as the buckles clicked. "Daddy says I'm a smart girl, since I did it myself after seeing him do it once."

Erica smiled and engaged the child lock on the door before shutting it and heading for the drivers seat. She then took a picture of the two McCall-Stilinski children, strapped safely in her backseat and sent it to their parents.

"So, who is hungry?" She asked.

Melissa had told Erica via text that once they had lunch, her children would need a nap. This was absolutely true for Connor, who was currently passed out on Erica's lap. Juliet however saw that there was a park with "a playground way cooler than the one at home" down the road from the diner. Her desire to play on the playground combined with the fuel she got from her chicken nugget meal was enough to get Juliet to overcome any tiredness she felt.

So here Erica was, watching Juliet socialize with the other children on the playground, sitting on a bench with a snoring three year old on her lap, having the distinct feeling she was being watched.

She had seen the same vehicle follow her from the school to the diner, and now it was parked right across the street from the park watching them. When they left the diner, she deliberately drove by the vehicle with her window down, to see if she could catch the scent of wolfsbane, but she could only pick up the smell of coffee.

They weren't hunters so why were they following them? Erica remained wary of the vehicle, just because they didn't smell like hunters did not mean they weren't dangerous.

* * *

**GROUP MESSAGE: DEREK, ALLY, ROSALYN, CORA, MALIA, **and** YOU**

**YOU: This car has been following me all day. They don't smell like hunters, but spread the word to everyone to keep an eye out.**

**DEREK: Are you okay? Do you need backup?**

**YOU: I'm fine. They are just watching. I'd figure we'd head home soon.**

**CORA: We'll spread the word Erica. Stay Safe.**

**MALIA: Derek, I can here you frowning from here. She said she's fine.**

**ALLY: I'll get the phone tree started. Wait how does that work now that we have two Seconds in the pack?**

**ROSALYN: And two Thirds.**

**CORA: We'll divide and conquer. I'll call you when I get out of class and we'll meet up okay Allison?**

**ALLY: Fine with me.**

**MALIA: Rose, do they mind if you have a visitor at the school for lunch? I have an hour and a half until my next class.**

**ROSALYN: Shouldn't be a problem, I'll leave your name in the front office.**

**YOU: I am so proud of you four, sharing responsibility…**

**Derek: Considering that as a child Cora couldn't be bothered to share our mother's attention…I'm impressed too. She's come so far.**

**CORA: Shut up Derek.**

* * *

The rest of the day and the days that followed were relatively uneventful in regards to threats on the pack. The car and others like it was spotted many times by most of the pack but it never presented itself as a threat, so they all just tried to go about their days.

Derek and Peter were able to go back to work on Tuesday, because as the week went on, everyone's schedules got a bit more flexible, so there was always someone at Wolf's Run to watch the pups. Everyone seemed to be settling into some sort of routine.

Unlike the majority of her pack, as the week went on Erica got busier. College life was different than she had anticipated, but compared to being an alpha werewolf, it wasn't horribly difficult. It just called for a few adjustments. The classes were much longer than high school, and the workload was ridiculous, but she found if she spent her free time at the library doing homework and studying between classes she was able to get what she needed done in and not have to study in the evenings. Evenings were pack time for her; time to be an alpha, a pack-sister, a mate and friend, time to laugh and bond. She didn't want that time sullied by schoolwork, as it was precious to have time as a pack when they did not have an immediate threat to deal with.

That's not to say that she and Derek weren't aware of the threats looming on the horizon, they were keeping an eye on the situations as best they could.

The Council and the Argents all had intelligence that Maxwell was lying low outside of town, and the Argents had left to hunt the guy down. A part of Erica hoped that they would find him and bring him to justice, but a larger part of her knew that they would have trouble killing a human, no matter how evil he was and her pack would end up having to deal with him. She was not looking forward to this confrontation.

The Argents themselves were still classified as threats. Victoria had been spotted multiple times on the campus observing Allison. The woman seemed determined to reconcile with her daughter, but Allison knew what it was really about; Victoria wanted intelligence in case they had to take the pack down and a fake reconciliation seemed like her best option. The Argents seemed oblivious of their control over the Lane Family, who would provide whatever intelligence Victoria wanted if she asked them. Thankfully, The Council was understanding of their position in sharing sensitive information in front of a Shaman, and did not press Peter any further during his second meeting. In fact, Isis Lane had been relieved that Peter knew of her binding to the Argents, as she didn't want to be in the position of sharing information any more than The Hale Pack wanted her sharing it.

As for the threat of the FBI, they still had no clue what that was about. Agents from the Sacramento field office had taken over the conference room of the Sheriff's Station on Tuesday. They were not willing to share "Sensitive Information" with the Sheriff and told him that when their lead agent arrived he would notify the Sheriff of the situation. The whole pack knew that this meant that McCall was the lead agent on this case; they just had no clue what the case was. Erica had never seen John Stilinski so pissed off in her life.

The pack couldn't prevent what was going to happen, they could only prepare mentally. And they honestly were too preoccupied dealing with the pups' problems to worry about something they could not stop.

* * *

Raising traumatized children was as difficult as they anticipated. It hurt to see them all struggling to adjust to having a pack and people that would protect them, and not having to fend for themselves. Each child dealt with their past differently, but after a few days the pack had gotten used to it and was supporting the pups' parents and Marin in helping the children work through things. These kids were great kids the majority if the time, but they needed therapy. The early trauma they experienced was clearly affecting them.

Raul typically was a quiet, slightly sarcastic child, but when he was frightened that fierce little child-alpha that Erica met last week appeared with a vengeance. Raul was prone to violent outbursts. He didn't have nightmares but his outbursts were triggered by loud noises and made him think that he was still running from hunters, responsible for keeping Diego, Juliet and Connor alive. In these moments, only his adoptive father or his alpha could bring him back to the present.

Diego was normally a mind-mannered agreeable boy. But when he had a nightmare or was scared by loud noises he would run into the woods. They would find him hiding in the ruins of the old Hale House, the mausoleum, or in one of the underground tunnels, and he would refuse to come out for hours, insisting that they were all a good dream, that he could never be happy or safe.

Juliet was a happy child; she talked constantly, was always laughing and constantly moving. The trouble was she constantly had nightmares. This lack of sleep caused her to have epic tantrums at whatever displeased her.

And then there was Connor, who Erica swore was actually a puppy dog at times- until he got cranky. He was very sensitive to the pack link, so whenever someone else was frightened or nervous, he got upset. When that little boy was upset he cried endlessly until someone- he preferred it be John or Melissa- picked him up and tried to soothe him.

* * *

Thursday evening found the entire pack on the main floors of the den. And Erica loved it. There was togetherness and laughter, and everyone was content.

After dinner was finished and the dishes clean, Jackson had declared it game night. So multiple games** had broken out all over the den.

In the dining room, Jackson began with a slight lead in the game Monopoly. Cora and Stiles had been trying to broker alliances with the other players for most of the game so they could "take the asshole down". Lydia, Danny, Boyd and Rosalyn refused their offer, and as the game went on it became apparent that the four of them had an alliance of their own; they had turned the tables on Jackson, bankrupted Stiles and had set their sights on Cora.

John, Peter, Derek, Marin, Allison, Aiden and Ethan were in the midst of a poker tournament at the small kitchen table. They were playing for money, not poker chips. Her mate was getting his ass kicked by the sound of it, but the man didn't know when to quit.

In the basement, a Wii tennis tournament had broken out in the theater room. Team Melissa/Sarah had successfully beaten Team Kira/Malia and Team Diego/Raul had demolished Team Braeden/Scott. The losing teams would play for third place after the championship match so as Melissa put it "they could sit their buts down and watch Mama win", but instead of watching they were playing a game of Go Fish. The championship game was well underway, causing Sarah and Raul to engage in some light Mother-Son trash talk during the game.

Erica was in the living room with Isaac, Juliet and Connor engaged in an intense battle with her tiny betas and her pack brother at the coffee table. Connor was too young to play most of the games the pack had in the cupboard downstairs but when he saw that they had Candy Land the boy started squealing in delight. Apparently they played the game at his old daycare and he loved it. So she couldn't help but saying yes when he asked her to play with him. She was losing to a three year old, but at least the three year old was happy, and at least (unlike some mates she could name) she was not losing money.

"Erica, how they heck are you losing?" Isaac asked. "Alpha up, _Puppy._ The real puppies are kicking our asses. Its embarrassing."

"Ohhh, you said a bad word." Juliet sang as she made her next move. "Mama Mel said she's going to make a swear jar because everyone in the pack has a potty mouth."

"Is that so?" Erica said with a grin, that jar would be filled in minutes; they'd be able to pay for the pups' future college tuition on this swear jar method.

"Yep, she already has one in our house, Daddy and Stiles had to put a lot of quarters in it already." Juliet said.

"Shit." Connor said when his card moved him back a few spaces. Erica held back a laugh, but Isaac was not so self-controlled.

"Who taught you that word Con?" Isaac said while cracking up.

"Sti and Daddy. I heards it." Connor said. "That a No-No word?" he asked.

"Yes it is." Erica said.

"Don't tell Mama Mel! I no have moneys." Connor said seriously.

"I don't think you have to pay if she doesn't hear it Con." Juliet informed. "I had a vision of Uncle Peter using a naughty word at his Council meeting yesterday and Mama Mel said that it didn't count, because he didn't say it in front of us."

"Why was Peter swearing?" Isaac asked.

"I asked him when he came back." Juliet said, "He told me that a were-kitty annoyed him. Nothing bad happened he just has a potty mouth."

Erica grinned knowing the story. Peter unknowingly dated a were-tiger in high school, and the breakup ended badly. Now she was on The Council and liked to cut Peter off whenever he spoke as penance for dumping her. Peter had come home cursing about interrupting tigers.

It was nearly eight thirty and the pups were getting tired. Erica figured that everything would wrap up soon.

She was wrong. Her phone beeped and the security app popped up.

She finally had the app that Derek had on his phone, installed on her own. She was tired of being the second to know what was happening on their property.

**Main Gate: Movement Detected**

She opened the feed. A tan-skinned man with could be seen and he had multiple vehicles with flashing police lights on them. "_This is the FBI, we have a warrant to search the premises, open up these gates immediately."_ He said.

"Everyone stop what you are doing and either sit quietly in the living room or in the dining room while Erica and I great our guests." Derek ordered from the kitchen.

**Derek Hale has unlocked Main Gate**

She heard every one move around, the wolves explaining what was happening to the non-wolves and Erica got up and met Derek at the front door. He handed her his phone and keys and she put them in the pockets of her hooded sweatshirt. They didn't want the FBI to have the all access pass to their security system that Derek's phone and keys would give them, and they both knew whatever this was about, it was about him, not her.

She grabbed Derek's hand as the opened the front door and saw all the police vehicles, and FBI vans speed down the driveway of their home.

"This is not good." Erica said.

"No it is not." Derek said. "But we can handle it. I love you."

"I love you too." She said as they both stepped onto the porch.

The man from the front gate exited the lead vehicle, they all had guns pointing at Derek.

"Hale, step away from the girl." He yelled.

Derek put his hands up in the air and stepped away from her, Erica had never been so frightened in her life. All these people surrounding their home, many of them pointing guns at her mate, and the worst part was she could smell the self righteousness; these people truly thought Derek was a danger to her and others.

She felt the alpha part of her ache to break free and attack these people that dare point weapons at her mate, before she remembered the protection spells on the property that protected him from harm. She could tell Derek was barely keeping it together as well, her bond sensed a barely contained alpha male fighting for release, to protect his pack and mate from intruders.

"_We can't fight them Der_." She whispered. As many men stormed the porch and a few cuffed Derek.

Once the metal was placed on her mate's wrist she lost it in a very human way. She started fighting with the female agent that was holding her back, and screaming. "He didn't do anything wrong! Where are you taking him? Why are you doing this to us?"

She sensed that the pack was watching the scene from the windows, all of them in agitated states of disbelief.

"It's okay." The man that spoke at the gate said in a condescending tone, looking from Erica to the faces in the windows. "You are all safe now. Derek Hale will be going away for a long time."

Erica used her wolf strength to break free of her agent and walked up straight to the man. "We were never in danger from Derek you ass. What crimes has he committed exactly? None. Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Agent Rafael McCall. I've been investigating Derek Hale for the past few months. We now have enough evidence to bring him in. He can't hurt you anymore if you and the rest of his followers decide to cooperate."

Erica glared at McCall in disgust. "You know nothing." She told him before looking to the car they were putting her mate in the back of. "Derek! We'll get you out of this I swear! I love you!" She yelled.

"_I love you too Erica." _She heard him whisper. _"Take care of our pack while I'm gone, the lawyers will have me out soon."_

She hoped that was true.

She was helpless as the FBI tore apart their home over the next few hours as Derek watched from the backseat of a cruiser and the rest of the pack looked on dumbfounded and helpless to stop it. John had looked over the warrant; they had an all-access pass to search all the buildings on the property. Needless to say the Sheriff was fuming that many of his deputies were helping the FBI serve the warrant. Not only had McCall served them the warrant that allowed him to tear apart their home, but he also served John with papers giving him a hearing date…the Sheriff could lose his job for being involved with a suspected cult.

The FBI tore up all the furniture, looking for hiding places or anything illegal. They took photos of everyone's rooms and belongings, took some pack photos and knick-knacks as "evidence", and had EMTs give simple "non-invasive" examinations. These exams were to check everyone over for injuries, fingerprint them and asking their full names. Erica and John put their foot down about them doing these invasive examinations in a different room, the pack had been traumatized enough and the kids were in tears. If they wanted exams done they would be done in the open, not behind closed doors where shady things could happen.

"We have to do a rape kit on all of you." McCall insisted.

Erica raised her eyebrow, and tried her hardest not to kick the man in the balls. "Not without their consent you aren't. I say no for me. I don't want anyone poking around down there. And I haven't been raped."

"Ms. Reyes, you have been brainwashed." McCall stated. "All of you have. Why else would Hale keep all the women in this main house and the men in the houses outside? He's using all of you. You just haven't seen it yet."

Erica snorted. "Open your eyes. You've seen the houses. You see clearly that my boyfriend and I live in this house with his sister, his cousin and their boyfriends and everyone else lives in their own homes. Check the rooms on the third floor, there should be dust showing you no one has used them in months."

"If I have to get a court order for rape kits for all of you…" McCall started.

"You can try." Jackson said walking toward them. "But our lawyers are on their way. And they will block that. This whole investigation and search is on shaky legal ground, be prepared to lose you badge when this is finished."

_"Lawyers?"_ Erica whispered to him.

_"I called my parents."_ He whispered back. "_They are getting on the first flight they can."_

Erica sighed in relief. The Whittemores were the best lawyers one could hire. She was happy that Jackson had swallowed his pride and called them to help the pack. She was unsure if the lawyers at Hale Holdings would be useful if the FBI was bringing criminal charges against Derek.

McCall looked unimpressed at Jackson's statement, and walked away having everyone redouble their search. And Erica returned to watching the whole affair in a daze, completely helpless to stop any of it.

She wasn't too concerned about them finding werewolf stuff or weapons. During renovations the armory was moved underground, accessed only by placing your index finger on a keypad on the first floor of the pool house. When Braeden moved back she had charmed all the supernatural books on the premises to seem like innocuous books found in your local library. All access to the underground bunker and escape tunnels were well hidden, and most entrances were in the woods, a place the warrant did not cover.

The only thing that they could find that was "Cult-y" was the triskele. The triskele was everywhere on the premises, and each pack member had a triskele that they wore on them at all times. The FBI took pictures of their pack symbol where ever it turned up; Erica heard whispers of it being how Hale marked and controlled his cult. She rolled her eyes at this, because no one but Derek had the symbol permanently marked on their flesh; they all had golden key-rings, rings, bracelets, anklets, earrings, or necklaces. Derek didn't want them to tattoo themselves, because tattooing for a wolf was extremely painful.

Last night was such a good night; they had given her new pack-members their own triskele symbols. The pups didn't wear jewelry so Raul and Diego had insisted on having one painted on their bedroom walls, Connor had a stuffed wolf named Joey with a triskele on his collar and Juliet's nightlight was a glowing triskele. Rosalyn and Marin opted for the jewelry route; Rosalyn getting a bracelet that matched her mate's and Marin a ring. Everyone had spent the evening celebrating and happy.

How could things be so different a mere twenty-four hours later?

It took the FBI hours to finish. By the time the agents were packing up _Wolf's Run_ was a mess and the pups had fallen asleep crying on their parents and older siblings.

"_I'm sorry I can't stop this." _She whispered to Derek, crying as the FBI convoy began to drive away with him cuffed in the back of a walked out onto the porch and watched them go, the alpha in her demanding control and retribution for being separated from her mate.

_"I don't expect you to. Just keep them safe until we can get out of this..." _He said, before he was to far down the drive for her to hear him.

She used his cell phone to lock the gate behind the last car. She took a deep breath and began to cry harder. She searched the pack link; everyone was upset. Braeden and Marin channeled their energy to magically cleaning the mess the agents left in their wake. John soothed the distraught Connor and Juliet the best he could when they woke and found that what had happened wasn't a nightmare. Lydia, Kira, Sarah, and Mel began looking for "blankets unsoiled by FBI agents grubby hands" and were organizing the theater room to become the place they could all end up sleeping tonight as a pack, knowing closeness was imperative during times like these.

All the wolves (besides Juliet and Connor) joined her outside. She felt they were all so angry they were barely holding back a shift. They all started to strip out of their unnecessary outer layers (sweats, jackets etc), preparing themselves for the pack run. Unlike a full moon run, this pack run would not be joyful and the pack would be incomplete. No Derek.

She heard multiple whimpers behind her.

She howled in agony. They all followed suit.

She shifted and ran for the woods. They all shifted and followed her.

They ran and howled for an hour, until Raul and Diego's little legs gave out in exhaustion and they had to return to the den.

She let out one final howl before re-entering the den. This one was more of an alpha-roar and it conveyed more than just the packs agony and anger. It was a message to her mate sitting in a cell across town.

_Stay Strong My Love. _

* * *

**AN: So if you all hate POV changes you should speak now or forever hold your peace.**

**Chapter 10/Begining of "Act Two" will be divided into two parts (and posted within a day of one another) Part A will follow The Pack (and maybe The Argents a little bit) in the aftermath of this chapter and will be shorter that the typical 6-7 thousand words … and Part B will follow the POV of everyone's "favorite" FBI agent as he conducts his investigation. The reason I am calling this all chapter 10 is because I don't plan on Erica to be narrating this part much…she's going to be too angry and running on pure instinct and I don't know if I can portray that properly through her POV.**

**Thoughts? Questions? Leave a review below or and ask on my tumblr.**

**Check out my tumblr (**hailhales** or **hailhaleswriting**) Or visit **allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf ** for bonus info and updates on this fic and others.**

* * *

**Footnotes:**

*** if you didn't read Teen She Wolf… the Thorne Pack was the big bad during that story, they were a all-male pack that wanted to kill all the Hales and take their female wolves to use as 'breeders', obviously they did not succeed. **

*** * Games mentioned: Monopoly, Poker (Texas Hold Em), Wii Tennis, Go Fish and CandyLand**


End file.
